Ay,  at  Phllippi  jv.  3.  28a) 


SHAKESPEARE'S 


TRAGEDY  OF 


JULIUS    C^SAR. 


Edited,  with  Notes, 

BY 

WILLIAM  J.  ROLFE,  A.M., 

FORMERLY   HEAD   MASTER  OF   THE   HIGH   SCHOOL,  CAMBRIDGE,  MASS. 


WITH  ENGRA  VINGS. 


NEW   YORK: 

HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  PUBLISHERS, 

FRANKLIN     SQUARE. 
1889. 


1 

ENGLISH     CLASSICS'. 

Edited  by  WM.  J.  ROLFE,  A.M. 

Illustrated.     i6mo,  Cloth,  56  cents  per  volume ;   Paper,  40  cents  per  volume. 

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Othello.                    'i**l***p*l 

Julius  &&*. 

A  Midsiimnier-Nig'htV Dream." 

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Antony  and  Cleopatra. 

Much  Ado  about  Nothing. 

Measure  for  Measure. 

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Merry  Wives  of  Windsor. 
Love's  Labour  's  Lost. 

As  You  Like  It. 

The  Tempest. 

Two  Gentlemen  of  Verona. 

Twelfth  Night. 

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The  Winter's  Tale. 

Troilus  and  Cressida. 

King  John. 

Henry  VI.     Part  I. 

Richard   II. 

Henry  VI.     Part  II. 

Henry  IV.     Part  I. 

Henry  VI.     Part  III. 
Pericles,  Prince  of  Tyre. 

Henry  IV.     Part  II. 

Henry  V. 

The  Two  Noble  Kinsmen. 

Richard  III. 

Venus  and  Adonis,  Lucrece,  etc 

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Copyright,  1872,  by  Harper  &   Brothers. 
Copyright,  1883,  by  Harper  &   Brothers. 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

Introduction  to  Julius  Caesar : 7 

I.  The  History  of  the  Play 7 

II.  The  Historical  Sources  of  the  Play 8 

III.  Critical  Comments  on  the  Play 11 

JULIUS  CAESAR 35 

Act   1 37 

u  n 55 

■  J" •  73 

"   IV 94 

"     V. 109 

Notes 123 


M69919 


THE    TIBER. 


CAIUS   JULIUS    C^SAR. 


INTRODUCTION 


JULIUS     C^SAR, 


I.   THE   HISTORY  OF  THE   PLAY. 

"  The  Tr aged ie  of  Julius  Caesar"*  was  first  published  in  the 
Folio  of  1623,  where  it  occupies  pages  109-130  in  the  division 
of"  Tragedies."  It  was  printed  with  remarkable  accuracy,  and 
no  play  of  Shakespeare's  presents  fewer  textual  difficulties. 

The  date  at  which  the  drama  was  written  has  been  vari- 
ously fixed  by  the  critics.  According  to  Malone,  it  "  could 
not  have  appeared  before  1607."     Collier  argues  that  it  must 

*  This  is  the  title  at  the  beginning  of  the  play  and  at  the  head  of  each 
page,  but  in  the  Table  of  Contents  (or,  as  it  is  called,  "A  Catalogve  of 
the  seuerall  Comedies,  Histories,  and  Tragedies  contained  in  this  Vol- 
ume") it  is  given  as  "The  Life  and  Death  of  Julius  Caesar." 


8  JULIUS  CALSAR. 

have  been  acted  before  1603.  Knight  believes  it  to  be  "one 
of  the  latest  works  of  Shakespeare."  Craik*  comes  to  the 
conclusion  that  it  u  can  hardly  be  assigned  to  a  later  date 
than  the  year  1607,  but  there  is  nothing  to  prove  that  it  may 
not  be  of  considerably  earlier  date."  White  infers  from  the 
style  that  "it  was  probably  brought  out  between  1605  and 
1608."  Gervinus  (in  his  Shakespeare  Commentaries}  decides 
that  it  "was  composed  before  1603,  about  the  same  time  as 
Hamlet 7"  and  he  adds  that  this  is  "  confirmed  not  only  by 
the  frequent  external  references  to  Caesar  which  we  find  in 
Hamlet,  but  still  more  by  the  inner  relations  of  the  two  plays." 
More  recently  (ir  his  folio  edition  of  Shakespeare,  1865), 
Halliwell  has  shown  that  it  was  written  "  in  or  before  the 
year  i6o:i,'w*.'^rhis  appears  "  from  the  following  lines  in  Wee- 
vcr's  Mirror  of  Martyrs,  printed  in  that  year — lines  which 
unquestionably  are  to  be  traced  to  a  recollection  of  Shake- 
speare's drama,  not  to  that  of  the  history  as  given  by  Plutarch : 
"  '  The  many-headed  multitude  were  drawne 
By  Brutus'  speech,  that  Caesar  was  ambitious ; 
When  eloquent  Mark  Antonie  had  showne 
His  vertues,  who  but  Brutus  then  was  vicious  ?'  " 


II.   THE   HISTORICAL  SOURCES  OF  THE   PLAY. 

It  appears  from  Peck's  "  Collection  of  divers  curious  his- 
torical pieces,  etc."  (appended  to  his  Memoirs  of  Oliver  Crom- 
well), that  a  Latin  play  on  this  subject,  entitled  "  Epilogus 
Caesaris  interfecti,"  had  been  written  as  early  as  1582,  by  Dr. 
Richard  Eedes,  and  acted  at  Christ  Church  College,  Oxford. 
This  was  very  likely  the  drama  referred  to  in  Hamlet  (iii.  2): 

"JTizmlet.  My  lord,  you  play'd  once  i'  th'  university,  you  say  ? 
Polonius.  That  did  I,  my  lord  ;  and  was  accounted  a  good  actor. 
Hamlet.  What  did  you  enact  ? 

Polonius.  I  did  enact  Julius  Caesar  :  I  was  kill'd  i'  th'  Capitol ; 
Brutus  kill'd  me." 

*  English  of  Shakespeare,  Rolfe's  ed.,  pp.  44-49. 


INTRO  D  UCTION. 


Stephen  Gosson  also,  in  his  School  of  Abuse,  1579,  mentions  a 
play  entitled  "The  History  of  Caesar  and  Pompey  ;"  and  there 
were  doubtless  other  early  English  plays  based  on  the  story 
of  Caesar.  But  the  only  source  from  which  Shakespeare  ap- 
pears to  have  derived  his  materials  was  Sir  Thomas  North's 
version  of  Plutarch 's  Lives  (translated  from  the  French  of 
Amyot),  first  published  in  1579.  He  has  followed  his  au- 
thority closely,  not  only  in  the  main  incidents,  but  often  in 
the  minutest  details  of  the  action.    This  has  been  well  stated 


IO  JULIUS  CAESAR. 

by  Gervinus  in  his  Shakespeare  Commentaries  :*  "The  com- 
ponent parts  of  the  drama  are  borrowed  from  the  biographies 
of  Brutus  and  Caesar  in  such  a  manner  that  not  only  the  his- 
torical action  in  its  ordinary  course,  but  also  the  single  char- 
acteristic traits  in  incidents  and  speeches,  nay,  even  single 
expressions  and  words,  are  taken  from  Plutarch ;  even  such 
as  are  not  anecdotal  or  of  an  epigrammatic  nature,  even  such 
as  one  unacquainted  with  Plutarch  would  consider  in  form 
and  manner  to  be  quite  Shakespearian,  and  which  have  not 
unfrequently  been  quoted  as  his  peculiar  property,  testifying 
to  the  poet's  deep  knowledge  of  human  nature.  From  the 
triumph  over  Pompey  (or  rather  over  his  sons),  the  silencing 
of  the  two  tribunes,  and  the  crown  offered  at  the  Lupercalian 
feast,  until  Caesar's  murder,  and  from  thence  to  the  battle  of 
Philippi  and  the  closing  words  of  Antony,  which  are  in  part 
exactly  as  they  were  delivered,  all  in  this  play  is  essentially 
Plutarch.  The  omens  of  Caesar's  death,  the  warnings  of  the 
augur  and  of  Artemidorus,  the  absence  of  the  heart  in  the 
animal  sacrificed,  Calphurnia's  dream  ;  the  peculiar  traits  of 
Caesar's  character,  his  superstition  regarding  the  touch  of 
barren  women  in  the  course,  his  remarks  about  thin  people 
like  Cassius  ;  all  the  circumstances  about  the  conspiracy 
where  no  oath  was  taken,  the  character  of  Ligarius,  the  with- 
drawal of  Cicero  ;  the  whole  relation  of  Portia  to  Brutus,  her 
words,  his  reply,  her  subsequent  anxiety  and  death  ;  the  cir- 
cumstances of  Caesar's  death,  the  very  arts  and  means  of 
Decius  Brutus  to  induce  him  to  leave  home,  all  the  minutest 
particulars  of  his  murder,  the  behaviour  of  Antony  and  its 
result,  the  murder  of  the  poet  Cinna  ;  further  on,  the  conten- 
tion between  the  republican  friends  respecting  Lucius  Pella 
and  the  refusal  of  the  money,  the  dissension  of  the  two  con- 
cerning the  decisive  battle,  their  conversation  about  suicide, 
the  appearance  of  Brutus's  evil  genius,  the  mistakes  in  the 

*  Bunnett's  Translation,  London,  1863.    This  passage  immediately  pre- 
cedes the  one  quoted  in  the  "  Critical  Comments  on  the  Play"  below. 


INTRODUCTION.  tl 

battle,  its  double  issue,  its  repetition,  the  suicide  of  both 
friends,  and  Cassius's  death  by  the  same  sword  with  which 
he  killed  Caesar — all  is  taken  from  Plutarch's  narrative,  from 
which  the  poet  had  only  to  omit  whatever  destroyed  the  unity 
of  the  action." 

The  period  of  the  action  of  the  play  extends  from  the  feast 
of  the  Lupercalia,  in  February  of  the  year  44  B.C.,  to  the  battle 
of  Philippi,  in  the  autumn  of  the  year  42  B.C. 


MARCUS    JUNIUS    BRUTUS. 

III.    CRITICAL   COMMENTS    ON    THE    PLAY. 
[Fro?n  Hazlitfs  "  Characters  of  Shakespear's  T/ays."] 

Shakespear  has  in  this  play  and  elsewhere  shown  the  same 
penetration  into  political  character  and  the  springs  of  public 
events  as  into  those  of  every-day  life.  For  instance,  the  whole 
design  of  the  conspirators  to  liberate  their  country  fails  from 
the  generous  temper  and  overweening  confidence  of  Brutus 
in  the  goodness  of  their  cause  and  the  assistance  of  others. 
Thus  it  has  always  been.  Those  who  mean  well  themselves 
think  well  of  others,  and  fall  a  prey  to  their  security.  That 
humanity  and  honesty  which  dispose  men  to  resist  injustice 
and  tyranny  render  them  unfit  to  cope  with  the  cunning  and 


12  TULIPS  C/ESAR. 

power  of  those  who  are  opposed  to  them.  The  friends  of 
liberty  trust  to  the  professions  of  others  because  they  are 
themselves  sincere,  and  endeavour  to  reconcile  the  public 
good  with  the  least  possible  hurt  to  its  enemies,  who  have  no 
regard  to  anything  but  their  own  unprincipled  ends,  and  stick 
at  nothing  to  accomplish  them.  Cassius  was  better  cut  out 
for  a  conspirator.  His  heart  prompted  his  head.  His  watch- 
ful jealousy  made  him  fear  the  worst  that  might  happen,  and 
his  irritability  of  temper  added  to  his  inveteracy  of  purpose, 
and  sharpened  his  patriotism.  The  mixed  nature  of  his  mo- 
tives made  him  fitter  to  contend  with  bad  men.  The  vices 
are  never  so  well  employed  as  in  combating  one  another. 
Tyranny  and  servility  are  to  be  dealt  with  after  their  own 
fashion  ;  otherwise  they  will  triumph  over  those  who  spare 
them,  and  finally  pronounce  their  funeral  panegyric,  as  An- 
tony did  that  of  Brutus  : 

"All  the  conspirators,  save  only  he, 
Did  that  they  did  in  envy  of  great  Caesar ; 
He  only  in  a  general  honest  thought, 
And  common  good  to  all,  made  one  of  them." 

The  quarrel  between  Brutus  and  Cassius  is  managed  in  a 
masterly  way.  The  dramatic  fluctuation  of  passion,  the  calm- 
ness of  Brutus,  the  heat  of  Cassius,  are  admirably  described  ; 
and  the  exclamation  of  Cassius  on  hearing  of  the  death  of 
Portia,  which  he  does  not  learn  till  after  their  reconciliation, 
u  How  scap'd  I  killing  when  I  cross'd  you  so  ?"  gives  double 
force  to  all  that  has  gone  before.  The  scene  between  Brutus 
and  Portia,  where  she  endeavours  to  extort  the  secret  of  the 
conspiracy  from  him,  is  conceived  in  the  most  heroical  spirit, 
and  the  burst  of  tenderness  in  Brutus — 

"  You  are  my  true  and  honourable  wife : 
As  dear  to  me  as  are  the  ruddy  drops 
That  visit  my  sad  heart" — 

is  justified  by  her  whole  behaviour.  Portia's  breathless  im- 
patience to  learn  the  event  of  the  conspiracy,  in  the  dialogue 


INTRODUCTION. 


13 


with  Lucius,  is  full  of  passion.  The  interest  which  Portia 
takes  in  Brutus,  and  that  which  Calphurnia  takes  in  the  fate 
of  Caesar,  are  discriminated  with  the  nicest  precision.  Mark 
Antony's  speech  over  the  dead  body  of  Caesar  has  been  justly 
admired  for  the  mixture  of  pathos  and  artifice  in  it :  that  of 
Brutus  certainly  is  not  so  good. 

The  entrance  of  the  conspirators  to  the  house  of  Brutus  is 
rendered  very  impressive.  In  the  midst  of  this  scene  we 
meet  with  one  of  those  careless  and  natural  digressions  which 
occur  so  frequently  and  beautifully  in  Shakespear.  After  Cas- 
sius  has  introduced  his  friends  one  by  one,  Brutus  says, 

"They  are  all  welcome. 
What  watchful  cares  do  interpose  themselves 
Betwixt  your  eyes  and  night  ? 

Cassius.  Shall  I  entreat  a  word  ?      [Brutics  and  Cassius  whisper, 

Decius.  Here  lies  the  east :  doth  not  the  day  break  here  ? 

Casca.  No. 

Cinna.  O  pardon,  sir,  it  doth ;  and  yon  gray  lines, 
That  fret  the  clouds,  are  messengers  of  day. 

Casca.  You  shall  confess  that  you  are  both  deceiv'd : 
Here,  as  I  point  my  sword,  the  sun  arises ; 
Which  is  a  great  way  growing  on  the  south, 
Weighing  the  youthful  season  of  the  year. 
Some  two  months  hence,  up  higher  toward  the  north 
He  first  presents  his  fire,  and  the  high  east 
Stands,  as  the  Capitol,  directly  here." 

We  cannot  help  thinking  this  graceful  familiarity  better  than 
all  the  fustian  in  the  world. 

The  truth  of  history  in  Julius  Ceesar  is  very  ably  worked 
up  with  dramatic  effect.  The  councils  of  generals,  the  doubt- 
ful turns  of  battles,  are  represented  to  the  life.  The  death 
of  Brutus  is  worthy  of  him  :  it  has  the  dignity  of  the  Roman 
senator  with  the  firmness  of  the  Stoic  philosopher.  But  what 
is  perhaps  better  than  either  is  the  little  incident,  of  his  boy 
Lucius  falling  asleep  over  his  instrument,  as  he  is  playing  to 
his  master  in  his  tent,  the  night  before  the  battle.  Nature 
had  played  him  the  same  forgetful  trick  once  before,  on  the 


1 4  JULIUS  CsESAR. 

night  of  the  conspiracy.    The  humanity  of  Brutus  is  the  same 

on  both  occasions. 

"  It  is  no  matter  : 
Enjoy  the  heavy  honey-dew  of  slumber. 
Thou  hast  no  figures  nor  no  fantasies, 
Which  busy  care  draws  in  the  brains  of  nen, 
Therefore  thou  sleep'st  so  sound." 

[From  Knights  "Pictorial  SJuikspere"*] 

Nothing  can  be  more  interesting,  we  think,  than  to  follow 
Shakespeare  with  Plutarch  in  handr,  The  poet  adheres  to 
the  facts  of  history  with  a  remarkable  fidelity.  A  few  hard 
figures  are  painted  upon  a  canvas ;  the  outlines  are  distinct, 
the  colours  are  strong ;  but  there  is  no  art  in  the  composi- 
tion, no  grouping,  no  light  and  shadow.  This  is  the  histo- 
rian's picture.  We  turn  to  the  poet.  We  recognize  the  same 
figures,  but  they  appear  to  live  ;  they  are  in  harmony  with 
the  entire  scene  in  which  they  move ;  we  have  at  once  the 
reality  of  nature  and  the  ideal  of  art,  which  is  a  higher  na- 
ture. Compare  the  dialogue  in  the  first  act  between  Cassius 
and  Brutus,  and  the  same  dialogue  as  reported  by  Plutarch, 
for  an  example  of  the  power  by  which  the  poet  elevates  all 
he  touches,  without  destroying  its  identity.  When  we  arrive 
at  the  stirring  scenes  of  the  third  act,  this  power  is  still  more 
manifest.  The  assassination  scene  is  as  literal  as  may  be  ; 
but  it  offers  an  example  apt  enough  of  Shakespeare's  mode 
of  dramatizing  a  fact.  When  Metellus  Cimber  makes  suit 
for  his  brother,  and  the  conspirators  appear  as  intercessors,- 
the  historian  says,  "  Caesar  at  the  first  simply  refused  their 
kindness  and  entreaties  ;  but  afterwards,  perceiving  they  still 
pressed  on  him,  he  violently  thrust  them  from  him."  The 
poet  enters  into  the  mind  of  Caesar,  and  clothes  this  rejection 
of  the  suit  in  characteristic  words.  Hazlitt,  after  noticing 
the  profound  knowledge  of  character  displayed  by  Shake 
speare  in  this  play,  says :  "  If  there  be  any  exception  to  this 
*  IragcJics,  vol.  ii.  p.  349  foil. 


IN  TROD  UCTION. 


15 


remark,  it  is  in  the  hero  of  the  piece  himself.  We  do  not 
much  admire  the  representation  here  given  of  Julius  Caesar, 
nor  do  we  think  it  answers  the  portrait  given  of  him  in  his 
Commentaries.  He  makes  several  vapouring  and  rather  pe- 
dantic speeches,  and  does  nothing.  Indeed,  he  has  nothing 
to  do.  So  far  the  fault  of  the  character  is  the  fault  of  the 
plot."  The  echoes  of  this  opinion  are  many,  and  smaller 
critics  wax  bold  upon  the  occasion.  Boswell  says :  "  There 
cannot  be  a  stronger  proof  of  Shakespeare's  deficiency  in 
classical  knowledge  th?ysthe  boastful  language  he  has  put  in 
the  mouth  of  the  most  accomplished  man  of  all  antiquity, 
who  was  not  more  admirable  for  his  achievements  than  for 
the  dignified  simplicity  with  which  he  has  recorded  them." 
Courtenay  had  hazarded,  in  his  notice  of  Henry  VIII,  the 
somewhat  bold  assertion  that  "  Shakespeare  used  very  little 
artifice,  and,  in  truth,  had  very  little  design,  in  the  construc- 
tion of  the  greater  number  of  his  historical  characters." 
Upon  the  character  of  Julius  Caesar,  he  says  that  Plutarch's 
having  been  supposed  to  pass  over  this  character  somewhat 
slightly  is  "a  corroboration  of  my  remark  upon  the  slight  at- 
tention which  Shakespeare  paid  to  his  historical  characters. 
The  conversation  with  Antony  about  fat  men,  and  with  Cal- 
phurnia  about  her  dreams,  came  conveniently  into  his  plan  ; 
and  some  lofty  expressions  could  hardly  be  avoided  in  por- 
traying one  who  was  known  to  the  whole  world  as  a  great 
conqueror.  Beyond  this  our  poet  gave  himself  no  trouble." 
This  is  certainly  an  easy  way  of  disposing  of  a  complicated 
question.  Did  Shakespeare  give  himself  no  trouble  about 
the  characterization  of  Brutus  and  Cassius  ?  In  them  did  he 
indicate  no  points  of  character  but  what  he  found  in  Plu- 
tarch ?  Is  not  his  characterization  of  Caesar  himself  a  con- 
siderable expansion  of  what  he  found  set  down  by  the  histo- 
rian ?  At  the  exact  period  of  the  action  of  this  drama,  Caesar, 
possessing  the  reality  of  power,  was  haunted  by  the  weakness 
of  passionately  desiring  the  title  of  king.     Plutarch  says : 


1 6  JULIUS  C^SAR. 

"  The  chiefest  cause  that  made  him  mortally  hated  was  the 
covetous  desire  he  had  to  be  called  king."  This  is  the  pivot 
upon  which  the  whole  action  of  Shakespeare's  tragedy  turns. 
There  might  have  been  another  method  of  treating  the  sub- 
ject. The  death  of  Julius  Caesar  might  have  been  the  catas- 
trophe. The  republican  and  monarchical  principles  might 
have  been  exhibited  in  conflict.  The  republican  principle 
would  have  triumphed  in  the  fall  of  Caesar ;  and  the  poet 
would  have  previously  held  the  balance  between  the  two 
principles,  or  have  claimed,  indeer1  ^our  largest  sympathies 
for  the  principles  of  Caesar  and  his' mends,  by  a  true  exhibi- 
tion of  Caesar's  greatness  and  Caesar's  virtues.  The  poet 
chose  another  course.  And  are  we,  then,  to  talk,  with 
ready  flippancy,  of  ignorance  and  carelessness — that  he  want- 
ed classical  knowledge  —  that  he  gave  himself  no  trouble? 
"  The  fault  of  the  character  is  the  fault  of  the  plot,"  says 
Hazlitt.  It  would  have  been  nearer  the  truth  had  he  said, 
the  character  is  determined  by  the  plot.  While  Caesar  is 
upon  the  scene,  it  was  for  the  poet,  largely  interpreting  the 
historian,  to  show  the  inward  workings  of  "  the  covetous  de- 
sire he  had  to  be  called  king,"  and  most  admirably,  according 
to  our  notions  of  characterization,  has  he  shown  them.  Cae- 
sar is  "  in  all  but  name  a  king."  He  is  surrounded  by  all 
the  external  attributes  of  power  j  yet  he  is  not  satisfied  : 

"  The  angry  spot  doth  glow  on  Caesar's  brow." 

He  is  suspicious — he  fears.  But  he  has  acquired  the  policy 
of  greatness — to  seem  what  it  is  not.  To  his  Intimate  friend 
he  is  an  actor  : 

"  I  rather  tell  thee  what  is  to  be  fear'd 
Than  what  I  fear ;  for  always  I  am  Caesar." 

When  Calphurnia  has  recounted  the  terrible  portents  of  the 
night — when  the  augurers  would  not  that  Caesar  should  stir 
forth — he  exclaims  : 


INTRO  D  UC  77 ON.  1 7 

"  The  gods  do  this  in  shame  of  cowardice  s 
Caesar  should  be  a  beast  without  a  heart 
If  he  should  stay  at  home  to-day  for  fear." 

But  to  whom  does  he  utter  this,  the  "boastful  language" 
which  so  offends  Boswell  ?  To  the  servant  who  has  brought 
the  message  from  the  augurers ;  before  him  he  could  show 
no  fear.  But  the  very  inflation  of  his  language  shows  that  he 
did  fear ;  and  an  instant  after,  when  the  servant  no  doubt  is 
intended  to  have  left  the  scene,  he  says  to  his  wife, 
"  Mark  Antony  shall  say  I  am  not  well, 
And,  for  thy  humour,  I  will  stay  at  home." 

Read  Plutarch's  account  of  the  scene  between  Decius  and 
Caesar,  when  Decius  prevails  against  Calphurnia,  and  Caesar 
decides  to  go.  In  the  historian  we  have  not  a  hint  of  the 
splendid  characterization  of  Caesar  struggling  between  his 
fear  and  his  pride.  Wherever  Shakespeare  found  a  minute 
touch  in  the  historian  that  could  harmonize  witli  his  general 
plan,  he  embodied  it  in  his  character  of  Caesar.  Who  does 
not  remember  the  magnificent  lines  which  the  poet  puts  into 
the  mouth  of  Caesar  ? 

"  Cowards  die  many  times  before  their  deaths; 
The  valiant  never  taste  of  death  but  once. 
Of  all  the  wonders  that  I  yet  have  heard, 
It  seems  to  me  most  strange  that  men  should  fear ; 
Seeing  that  death,  a  necessary  end, 
Will  come  when  it  will  come." 

A  very  slight  passage  in  Plutarch,  with  reference  to  other 
events  of  Caesar's  life,  suggested  this :  "  When  some  of  his 
friends  did  counsel  him  to  have  a  guard  for  the  safety  of  his 
person,  and  some  also  did  offer  themselves  to  serve  him,  he 
would  never  consent  to  it,  but  said  it  was  better  to  die  once 
than  always  to  be  afraid  of  death."  .  .  .  The  tone  of  his  last 
speech  is  indeed  boastful : 

"  I  do  know  but  one 
That  unassailable  holds  on  his  rank, 
B 


18  JULIUS  CMSAR. 

Unshak'd  of  motion  ;  and  that  I  am  he 
Let  me  a  little  show  it." 

That  Caesar  knew  his  power,  and  made  others  know  it,  who 
can  doubt  ?  He  was  not  one  who,  in  his  desire  to  be  king, 
would  put  on  the  robe  of  humility.  Altogether,  then,  we  pro- 
fess to  receive  Shakespeare's  characterization  of  Caesar  with 
a  perfect  confidence  that  he  produced  that  character  upon 
fixed  principles  of  art.  It  is  true  to  the  narrative  upon  which 
Shakespeare  founded  it ;  but,  what  is  of  more  importance,  it 
is  true  to  every  natural  conception  of  what  Caesar  must  have 
been  at  the  exact  moment  of  his  fall. 

[From  Ulricas  "  Shakespeare's  Dramatic  Art."*] 
The  want  of  unity  of  interest  is  the  common  objection  that 
has  been  most  frequently  brought  against  Julius  Ccesar. 
And  as  long  as  this  particular  unity  is  confounded  with  the 
true  ideal  unity  of  art,  defective  composition,  or  a  want  of 
true  organic  unity,  is  the  greatest  censure  that  can  be  passed 
upon  a  work  of  art.  Now  if  the  unity  of  interest  ought  to 
centre  entirely  in  one  personage  of  the  drama,  then  no  doubt 
the  objection  is  just,  for  it  is  divided  between  Caesar,  Brutus 
and  Cassius,  and  Antony  and  Octavius.  But  we  cannot  for 
a  moment  concede  that  poetical  interest  is  invariably  per- 
sonal ;  we  believe  that  it  attaches  as  frequently  to  an  idea. 
In  the  historical  drama,  the  interest  must  indeed  be  one,  but 
one  historically,  and  then  it  will  be  one  in  a  poetical  sense 
also.  But  in  a  certain  sense  history  does  not  at  all  trouble 
itself  about  persons ;  its  chief  interest  is  in  facts,  and  their 
effects  and  influences.  Now  in  Julius  Casar  this  interest  is 
one  throughout,  and  possesses  a  true  and  organic  unity.  One 
and  the  same  thought  is  reflected  in  the  fall  of  Caesar,  in  the 
defeat  and  death  of  Brutus  and  Cassius,  and  also  in  the  vic- 

*  English  Translation,  London,  1847,  P-  534  f<>l.     We  have  made  a  few 
verbal  changes,  and  have  corrected  some  palpable  errors;  as  "sworn 

friend"  for  "  sworn  enemy"  (geschworenen  Fcinde). 


IN  TROD  UCTION.  !  9 

tory  of  Antony  and  Octavius.  No  man,  even  though  he  be 
as  great  as  Cassar,  or  as  noble  as  Brutus,  is  powerful  enough 
to  drag  at  will  history  in  leading-strings ;  every  one  in  his 
vocation  may  contribute  his  stone  to  building  up  the  grand 
whole,  but  no  one  must  presume  to  think  that  he  may  with 
impunity  try  experiments  with  it.  The  great  Julius  was  but 
trying  an  experiment  when  he  allowed  the  crown  to  be  of- 
fered which  he  thrice  rejected  against  his  will.  He  could 
not  tame  his  wild  ambition — a  fault  which  history  perhaps 
might  have  pardoned  ;  but  he  understood  her  not ;  he  wished 
and  attempted  what  she  was  not  ready  for :  by  this  self-con- 
demned error,  by  this  arrogance,  he  precipitated  his  fate.  But 
Brutus  and  Cassius  erred  no  less  in  thinking  that  Rome  could 
be  saved  by  re-establishing  the  republic  ;  as  if  the  prosperity 
of  a  state  depended  on  its  form,  and  as  if  the  individual  could 
restore  the  lost  morality  of  the  nation  by  a  magic  word.  As 
Caesar  thought  life  unendurable  without  the  outward  dignity 
of  a  crown,  so  they  could  not  bear  to  live  without  the  honour 
of  external  liberty,  which  they  mistook  for  true  intrinsic  free- 
dom of  mind.  They  also  were  trying  their  own  experiments 
with  history.  The  avaricious  and  ambitious  Cassius,  as  well 
as  the  noble-minded  and  disinterested  Brutus,  arrogantly 
thought  themselves  strong  enough  to  control  the  course  of 
events.  Thus,  in  their  case  also,  was  error  associated  with 
presumption,  and  they  doubly  deserved  the  retribution  that 
overtook  them.  Antony,  on  the  other  hand,  with  Octavius 
and  Lepidus,  the  talented  spendthrift  with  the  clever  actor 
and  the  good-hearted  simpleton — neither  half  so  able  nor  so 
noble-minded  as  their  adversaries — nevertheless  prevailed  in 
the  struggle,  because  they  consented  to  follow  the  course  of 
history  and  the  spirit  of  their  age,  and  understood  how  to  use 
it.  In  Julius  Ccesar,  therefore,  we  discern  throughout  the 
same  ground-idea,  and  a  well-distributed  organic  unity  of  his- 
torical interest  in  all  the  characters,  whether  leading  or  sub- 
ordinate.    It  shines  forth  even  in  Portia's  death,  as  well  as 


20  JULIUS  C&SAR. 

in  the  fall  of  Cato,  Cicero,  and  the  other  conspirators  ;  Por- 
tia and  Cato  fell  with  Brutus,  and  the  rest  with  Cassius,  be- 
cause they  did  not  understand  the  progress  of  events,  and 
thought  to  control  it  arbitrarily  for  themselves,  or  no  less 
wantonly  to  put  their  hands  into  their  bosoms,  and  "  speak 
Greek."  History,  accordingly,  here  appears  under  one  of  its 
principal  aspects — that  of  its  despotic  power  and  energy  of 
development,  by  which,  although  worked  out  by  individual 
minds,  it  "yet  rules  the  greatest  of  them,  and  reaches  far  be- 
yond their  widest  calculations. 

But  what  can  justify  apparitions  and  spirits  in  an  historical 
drama?  And  in  any  case,  why  is  it  that  the  ghost  of  Caesar 
appears  to  Brutus,  whose  designs,  apparently  at  least,  are 
pure  and  noble,  rather  than  to  Cassius,  his  sworn  enemy? 
Because,  though  they  appear  to  be  such,  they  are  not  so  in 
reality ;  the  design  is  not  really  pure  which  has  for  its  first 
step  so  arrogant  a  violation  of  right.  Moreover,  Caesar  had 
been  more  deeply  wronged  by  Brutus  than  by  Cassius.  Bru- 
tus, like  Coriolanus,  had  trampled  under  foot  the  tenderest 
and  noblest  affections  of  humanity  for  the  sake  of  the  phan- 
tom honour  of  free  citizenship.  Brutus,  lastly,  was  the  very 
soul  of  the  conspiracy ;  if  his  mental  energies  should  be 
paralyzed,  and  his  strong  courage  unnerved,  the  whole  en- 
terprise must  fail.  And  so,  in  truth,  it  went  to  pieces,  be- 
cause it  was  against  the  will  of  history — that  is,  against  the 
eternal  counsels  of  God.  It  was  to  signify  this  great  lesson 
that  Shakespeare  introduced  the  ghost  upon  the  stage.  Only 
once,  and  with  a  few  pregnant  words,  does  the  spirit  appear  ; 
but  he  is  constantly  hovering  in  the  background,  like  a  dark 
thunder-cloud,  and  is,  as  it  were,  the  offended  and  threaten- 
ing spirit  of  history  itself.  It  is  with  the  same  purpose  that 
Shakespeare  has  introduced  spectral  apparitions  into  another 
of  his  historical  pieces — Richard  III.  Both  dramas  belong 
to  the  same  historical  grade;  they  both  represent  important 
turning-points  in  the  history  of  the  world — the  close  of  an 


INTRODUCTION.  21 

old,  and  the  commencement  of  a  new  state  of  things — and  in 
such  times  the  guiding  finger  of  God  is  more  obviously  ap- 
parent than  at  others. 

[From  Gervinus's  "Shakespeare  Commentaries."*] 
The  fidelity  of  Shakespeare  to  his  source  [Plutarch]  justi- 
fies us  in  saying  that  he  has  but  copied  the  historical  text. 
It  is  at  the  same  time  wonderful  with  what  hidden  and  al- 
most undiscernible  power  he  has  converted  the  text  into  a 
drama,  and  made  one  of  the  most  effective  plays  possible. 
Nowhere  else  has  Shakespeare  executed  his  task  with  such 
simple  skill,  combining  his  dependence  on  history  with  the 
greatest  freedom  of  a  poetic  plan,  and  making  the  truest  his- 
tory at  once  the  freest  drama.  The  parts  seem  to  be  only 
put  together  with  the  utmost  ease,  a  few  links  taken  out  of 
the  great  chain  of  historical  events,  and  the  remainder  united 
with  a  closer  and  more  compact  unity ;  but  let  any  one,  fol- 
lowing this  model  work,  attempt  to  take  any  other  subject 
out  of  Plutarch,  and  arrange  only  a  dramatic  sketch  from  it, 
and  he  will  become  fully  aware  of  the  difficulty  of  this  appar- 
ently most  easy  task.  He  will  become  aware  what  it  is  to 
concentrate  his  mind  on  one  theme  strictly  adhered  to,  as  is 
here  the  case  j  to  refer  persons  and  actions  to  one  idea  j  to 
seek  this  idea  out  of  the  most  general  truths  laid  down  in 
history  j  to  employ,  moreover,  for  the  dramatic  representation 
of  this  idea  none  but  the  actual  historical  personages ;  and 
so  at  length  to  arrange  this  for  the  stage  with  that  practised 
skill  or  innate  ability,  that  with  an  apparently  artless  transcript 
of  history,  such  an  ingenious  independent  theatrical  effect  can 
be  obtained  as  that  which  this  play  has  at  no  time  failed  to 
produce.  Indeed,  Leonard  Digges  informs  us  with  what  ap- 
plause Julius  Ccesar  was  acted  in  Shakespeare's  time,  whilst 

*  Bunnett's  Translation,  London,  1863,  vol.  ii.  p.  322  foil.  As  this  trans- 
lation was  made  "  under  the  author's  superintendence,"  we  have  quoted 
it  verbatim,  without  collation  with  the  original. 


22  JULIUS  CAiSAR. 

the  tedious  Catiline  and  Sejanus,  which  Ben  Jonson  had 
worked  at  with  such  diligence  and  labour,  were  coldly  re- 
ceived. Immediately  on  its  appearance  the  play  roused  the 
emulation  of  all  the  theatres ;  the  renowned  poets  Munday, 
Drayton,  Webster,  and  Middleton  wrote  a  rival  piece,  Caesar's 
Fall,  in  1602,  Lord  Stirling  a  Julius  Ccesar  in  1604,  and  a 
Ccesar  and  Pompey  appeared  in  1607.  At  the  period  of  the 
Restoration,^///^  Gzsarvtas  one  of  the  few  works  of  Shake- 
speare that  were  sought  out,  represented,  and  criticised.  In 
our  own  day,  in  Germany,  we  have  seen  it  performed,  seldom 
well,  but  always  with  applause.  Separate  scenes,  like  that 
between  Casca  and  Cassius  during  the  storm,  produce  an. 
effect  which  can  scarcely  be  imagined  from  merely  reading 
them  ;  the  speech  of  Antony,  heightened  by  the  effect  of  ex- 
ternal arrangement  and  the  artifices  of  conversation,  by  prop- 
er pauses  and  interruptions,  even  with  inferior  acting,  carries 
away  the  spectator  as  well  as  the  populace  represented  ;  the 
quarrel  between  Brutus  and  Cassius  is  a  trial-piece  for  great 
actors,  which,  according  to  Leonard  Digges,  created  even  in 
his  time  the  most  rapturous  applause ;  and  even  the  last  act, 
which  has  been  often  objected  to,  is  capable  of  exciting  the 
liveliest  emotion  when  well  managed  and  acted  with  spirit. 

The  character  of  Caesar  in  our  play  has  been  much  blamed. 
He  is  declared  to  be  unlike  the  idea  conceived  of  him  from 
his  Commentaries ;  it  is  said  that  he  does  nothing,  and  only 
utters  a  few  pompous,  thrasonical,  grandiloquent  words,  and 
it  has  been  asked  whether  this  be  the  Caesar  that  "  did  awe 
the  world  ?"  The  poet,  if  he  intended  to  make  the  attempt 
of  the  republicans  his  main  theme,  could  not  have  ventured 
to  create  too  great  an  interest  in  Caesar ;  it  was  necessary  to 
keep  him  in  the  background,  and  to  present  that  view  of  him 
which  gave  a  reason  for  the  conspiracy.  According  even  to 
Plutarch,  whose  biography  of  Caesar  is  acknowledged  to  be 
very  imperfect,  Caesar's  character  altered  much  for  the  worse 


INTRODUCTION.  23 

shortly  before  his  death,  and  Shakespeare  has  represented 
him  according  to  this  suggestion.  With  what  reverence 
Shakespeare  viewed  his  character  as  a  whole  we  learn  from 
several  passages  of  his  works,  and  even  in  this  play  from  the 
way  in  which  he  allows  his  memory  to  be  respected  as  soon 
as  he  is  dead.  In  the  descriptions  of  Cassius  we  look  back 
upon  the  time  when  the  great  man  was  natural,  simple,  un- 
dissembling,  popular,  and  on  an  equal  footing  with  others. 
Now  he  is  spoiled  by  victory,  success,  power,  and  by  the  re- 
publican courtiers  who  surround  him.  He  stands  close  on 
the  borders  between  usurpation  and  discretion ;  he  is  master 
in  reality,  and  is  on  the  point  of  assuming  the  name  and  the 
right ;  he  desires  heirs  to  the  throne ;  he  hesitates  to  accept 
the  crown  which  he  would  gladly  possess ;  he  is  ambitious, 
and  fears  he  may  have  betrayed  this  in  his  paroxysms  of  epi- 
lepsy ;  he  exclaims  against  flatterers  and  cringers,  and  yet 
both  please  him.  All  around  him  treat  him  as  a  master,  his 
wife  as  a  prince ;  the  senate  allow  themselves  to  be  called 
his  senate ;  he  assumes  the  appearance  of  a  king  even  in  his 
house ;  even  with  his  wife  he  uses  the  language  of  a  man 
who  knows  himself  secure  of  power  ;  and  he  maintains  every- 
where the  proud,  strict  bearing  of  a  soldier,  which  is  repre- 
sented even  in  his  statues.  If  one  of  the  changes  at  which 
Plutarch  hints  lay  in  this  pride,  this  haughtiness,  another  lay 
in  his  superstition.  In  the  suspicion  and  apprehension  before 
the  final  step,  he  was  seized,  contrary  to  his  usual  nature  and 
habit,  with  misgivings  and  superstitious  fears,  which  affected 
likewise  the  hitherto  free-minded  Calphurnia.  These  con- 
flicting feelings  divide  him,  his  forebodings  excite  him,  his 
pride  and  his  defiance  of  danger  struggle  against  them,  and 
restore  his  former  confidence,  which  was  natural  to  him,  and 
which  causes  his  ruin  ;  just  as  a  like  confidence,  springing 
from  another  source,  ruined  Brutus.  The  actor  must  make 
his  high-sounding  language  appear  as  the  result  of  this  dis- 
cord of  feeling.     Sometimes  they  are  only  incidental  words 


24  JULIUS  CsESAR. 

intended  to  characterize  the  hero  in  the  shortest  way.  Gen- 
erally they  appear  in  the  cases  where  Caesar  has  to  combat 
with  his  superstition,  where  he  uses  effort  to  take  a  higher 
stand  in  his  words  than  at  the  moment  he  actually  feels.  He 
speaks  so  much  of  having  no  fear  that  by  this  very  thing  he 
betrays  his  fear.  Even  in  the  places  where  his  words  sound 
most  boastful,  where  he  compares  himself  with  the  north  star, 
there  is  more  arrogance  and  ill-concealed  pride  at  work  than 
real  boastfulness.  It  is  intended  there  with  a  few  words  to 
show  him  at  that  point  when  his  behaviour  could  most  excite 
those  free  spirits  against  him.  It  was  fully  intended  that  he 
should  take  but  a  small  part  in  the  action  ;  we  must  not, 
therefore,  say  with  Scottowe  that  he  was  merely  brought  upon 
the  stage  to  be  killed.  The  poet  has  handled  this  historical 
piece  like  his  English  historical  plays.  He  had  in  his  eye 
the  whole  context  of  the  Roman  civil  wars  for  this  single 
drama,  not  as  yet  thinking  of  its  continuation  in  Antony  and 
Cleopatra. 

[From  Craik's  "English  of  Shakespeare"*} 
It  is  evident  that  the  character  and  history  of  Julius  Caesar 
had  taken  a  strong  hold  of  Shakespeare's  imagination.    There 
is  perhaps  no  other  historical  character  who  is  so  repeatedly 
alluded  to  throughout  his  plays. 

"There  was  never  anything  so  sudden," says  the  disguised 
Rosalind  in^j-  You  Like  It  (v.  2)  to  Orlando,  speaking  of  the 
manner  in  which  his  brother  Oliver  and  her  cousin  (or  sister, 
as  she  calls  her)  Celia  had  fallen  in  love  with  one  another, 
"but  the  fight  of  two  rams,  and  Caesar's  thrasonical  brag  of 
I  came,  saw,  and  overcame :  for  your  brother  and  my  sister 
no  sooner  met,  but  they  look'd  ;  no  sooner  look'd,  but  they 
lov'd  ;  no  sooner  lov'd,  but  they  sigh'd  ;"  etc. 

"O!  such  a  day,"  exclaims  Lord  Bardolph  in  the  Second 
rart  of  King  Henry  the  Fourth  (i.  1)  to  old  Northumberland, 
*  Rolfe's  edition,  p.  49  fol. 


INTRODUCTION.  25 

in  his  misannouncement  of  the  issue  of  the  field  of  Shrews- 
bury, 

"  So  fought,  so  follow'd,  and  so  fairly  won, 

Came  not  till  now  to  dignify  the  times 

Since  Caesar's  fortunes." 

And  afterwards  (in  iv.  3)  we  have  FalstafT's  magnificent 
gasconade :  "  I  have  speeded  hither  with  the  very  extremest 
inch  of  possibility :  I  have  founder'd  nine  score  and  odd  posts; 
and  here,  travel-tainted  as  I  am,  have,  in  my  pure  and  immac- 
ulate valour,  taken  Sir  John  Colevile  of  the  Dale,  a  most  furi- 
ous knight,  and  valorous  enemy.  But  what  of  that  ?  He  saw 
me,  and  yielded ;  that  I  may  justly  say,  with  the  hook-nos'd 
fellow  of  Rome,  I  came,  saw,  and  overcame." 

"  But  now  behold,"  says  the  Chorus  in  the  Fifth  Act  of 
King  Henry  the  Fifth,  describing  the  triumphant  return  of  the 
English  monarch  from  the  conquest  of  France, 

"  In  the  quick  forge  and  working-house  of  thought, 
How  London  doth  pour  out  her  citizens. 
The  mayor,  and  all  his  brethren,  in  best  sort, 
Like  to  the  senators  of  th'  antique  Rome, 
With  the  plebeians  swarming  at  their  heels, 
Go  forth,  and  fetch  their  conquering  Caesar  in." 

In  the  three  Parts  of  'King  Henry  the  Sixth,  which  are  so 
thickly  scattered  with  classical  allusions  of  all  kinds,  there 
are  several  to  the  great  Roman  dictator.  "  Henry  the  Fifth  ! 
thy  ghost  I  invocate  f  the  Duke  of  Bedford  apostrophizes  his 
deceased  brother  in  the  First  Part  (i.  1) : 

"  Prosper  this  realm,  keep  it  from  civil  broils  ! 
Combat  with  adverse  planets  in  the  heavens  ! 
A  far  more  glorious  star  thy  soul  will  make 
Than  Julius  Caesar,  or  bright — " 

In  the  next  scene  the  Maid,  setting  out  to  raise  the  siege  of 
Orleans,  and  deliver  her  king  and  country,  compares  her- 
self to 


26  JULIUS  C&SAR. 

"  that  proud  insulting  ship 
Which  Caesar  and  his  fortune  bare  at  once." 

In  the  Second  Part  (iv.  i)  we  have  Suffolk,  when  hurried 
away  to  execution  by  the  seamen  who  had  captured  him, 
consoling  himself  with — 

"  Great  men  oft  die  by  vile  bezonians : 
A  Roman  sworder  and  banditto  slave 
Murder'd  sweet  Tully  ;  Brutus'  bastard  hand 
Stabb'd  Julius  Caesar  ;  savage  islanders 
Pompey  the  Great ;  and  Suffolk  dies  by  pirates." 

And  afterwards  (iv.  7)  we  have  Lord  Say,  in  somewhat  sim- 
ilar circumstances,  thus  appealing  to  Cade  and  his  mob  of 
men  of  Kent : 

"  Hear  me  but  speak,  and  bear  me  where  you  will. 
Kent,  in  the  Commentaries  Caesar  writ, 
Is  term'd  the  civil'st  place  of  all  this  isle ; 
Sweet  is  the  country,  because  full  of  riches ; 
The  people  liberal,  valiant,  active,  wealthy  ; 
Which  makes  me  hope  you  are  not  void  of  pity." 

"  O  traitors  !  murderers  !"  Queen  Margaret  in  the  Third  Part 
(v.  5)  shrieks  out  in  her  agony  and  rage  when  the  prince  her 
son  is  butchered  before  her  eyes  : 

"They  that  stabb'd  Caesar  shed  no  blood  at  all, 

Did  not  offend,  nor  were  not  worthy  blame, 

If  this  foul  deed  were  by  to  equal  it : 

He  was  a  man  ;  this,  in  respect,  a  child  ; 

And  men  ne'er  spend  their  fury  on  a  child." 

In  King  Richard  the  Third  (iii.  1)  is  a  passage  of  great 
pregnancy.  "  Did  Julius  Caesar  build  that  place,  my  lord  ?" 
the  young  prince  asks  Buckingham,  when  it  is  proposed  that 
he  shall  retire  for  a  day  or  two  to  the  Tower  before  his  coro- 
nation. And  when  informed  in  reply  that  the  mighty  Roman 
at  least  began  the  building,  he  further  inquires, 

•*  Is  it  upon  record,  or  else  reported 
Successively  from  age  to  age,  he  built  it  ?" 


INTRODUCTION. 


27 


"  Upon  record,  my  gracious  lord,*'  answers  Buckingham.  On 
which  the  wise  royal  boy  rejoins, 

"  But  say,  my  lord,  it  were  not  register'd, 
Methinks  the  truth  should  live  from  age  to  age, 
As 't  were  retail'd  to  all  posterity, 
Even  to  the  general  all-ending  day." 

And  then,  after  a  "  What  say  you,  uncle  ?"  he  explains  the 
great  thought  that  was  working  in  his  mind  in  these  striking 
words  : 

"  That  Julius  Caesar  was  a  famous  man  : 

With  what  his  valour  did  enrich  his  wit, 

His  wit  set  down  to  make  his  valour  live. 

Death  makes  no  conquest  of  this  conqueror,* 

For  now  he  lives  in  fame,  though  not  in  life." 

Far  away  from  anything  Roman  as  the  fable  and  locality 
of  Hamlet  are,  various  passages  testify  how  much  Caesar  was 
in  the  mind  of  Shakespeare  while  writing  that  play.     First, 
we  have  the  famous  passage  (i.  1)  so  closely  resembling  one 
in  the  Second  Scene  of  the  Second  Act  of  Julius  Ccesar: 
"In  the  most  high  and  palmy  state  of  Rome, 
A  little  ere  the  mightiest  Julius  fell, 
The  graves  stood  tenantless,  and  the  sheeted  dead 
Did  squeak  and  gibber  in  the  Roman  streets ; 
As  t  stars  with  trains  of  fire,  and  dews  of  blood, 
Disasters  in  the  sun ;  and  the  moist  star, 
Upon  whose  influence  Neptune's  empire  stands, 
Was  sick  almost  to  doomsday  with  eclipse."J 

Then  there  is  (iii.  2)  the  conversation  between  Hamlet  and 
Polonius,  touching  the  histrionic  exploits  of  the  latter  in  his 
university  days :  "  I  did  enact  Julius  Caesar :  I  was  killed  i' 

*  "His  conqueror"  is  the  reading  of  all  the  folios.  "  This"  was  restored 
by  Theobald  from  the  quarto  of  1597,  and  has  been  adopted  by  Malone 
and  most  modern  editors. 

t  Something  is  evidently  wrong  here  ;  but  even  Mr.  Collier's  annotator 
gives  us  no  help. 

\  This  passage,  however,  is  found  only  la  the  quartos,  and  is  omitted  in 
all  the  folios. 


28  .      JULIUS  C&SAR. 

th'  Capitol ;  Brutus  kill'd  me."  "  It  was  a  brute  part  of  him 
to  kill  so  capital  a  calf  there"  (surely,  by-the-by,  to  be  spoken 
aside,  though  not  so  marked).  Lastly,  there  is  the  prince's 
rhyming  moralization  (v.  i) : 

"  Imperial  Caesar,  dead  and  turn'd  to  clay, 
Might  stop  a  hole  to  keep  the  wind  away. 
O,  that  that  earth  which  kept  the  world  in  awe 
Should  patch  a  wall  t'  expel  the  winter's  flaw  !" 

Many  notices  of  Caesar  occur,  as  might  be  expected,  in 
Cymbeline.  Such  are  the  boast  of  Posthumus  to  his  friend 
Philario  (ii.  4)  of  the  valour  of  the  Britons  : 

"  Our  countrymen 
Are  men  more  order'd  than  when  Julius  Caesar 
Smil'd  at  their  lack  of  skill,  but  found  their  courage 
Worthy  his  frowning  at." 

Various  passages  in  the  First  Scene  of  the  Third  Act : 
"  When  Julius  Caesar  (whose  remembrance  yet 
Lives  in  men's  eyes,  and  will  to  ears  and  tongues 
Be  theme  and  hearing  ever)  was  in  this  Britain, 
And  conquer'd  it,  Cassibelan,  thine  uncle. 
(Famous  in  Caesar's  praises  no  whit  less 
Than  in  his  feats  deserving  it),"  etc. 

"There  be  many  Caesars, 
Ere  such  another  Julius." 

"A  kind  of  conquest 
Caesar  made  here ;  but  made  not  here  his  brag 
Of  came,  and  saw,  and  overcame:  with  shame 
(The  first  that  ever  touch'd  him)  he  was  carried 
From  off  our  coast  twice  beaten  ;  and  his  shipping 
(Poor  ignorant  baubles  !)  on  our  terrible  seas, 
Like  egg-shells  mov'd  upon  their  surges,  crack'd 
As  easily  'gainst  our  rocks.     For  joy  whereof 
The  fam'd  Cassibelan,  who  was  once  at  point 
(O  giglot  Fortune  !)  to  master  Caesar's  sword, 
Made  Lud's  town  with  rejoicing  fires  bright, 
And  Britons  strut  with  courage." 
"Our  kingdom  is  stronger  than  it  was  at  that  time  ;  and,  as  I  said,  there 

is  no  more  such  Caesars ;  other  of  them  may  have  crook'd  noses ;  but  to 

owe  such  straight  arms,  none." 


INTRODUCTION. 


29 


"  Caesar's  ambition 
(Which  swell'd  so  much  that  it  did  almost  stretch 
The  sides  o'  th'  world)  against  all  colour  here 
Did  put  the  yoke  upon  's  ;  which  to  shake  off 
Becomes  a  warlike  people,  whom  we  reckon 
Ourselves  to  be." 
Lastly,  we  have  a  few  references  in  Antony  and  Cleopatra  : 

"  Broad-fronted  Caesar, 
When  thou  wast  here  above  the  ground,  I  was 
A  morsel  for  a  monarch"  (i.  5). 

"  Julius  Caesar, 
Who  at  Philippi  the  good  Brutus  ghosted"  (li.  6). 

"  What  was  it 
That  mov'd  pale  Cassius  to  conspire  ?     And  what 
Made  the  all-honour'd,  honest,  Roman  Brutus, 
With  the  arm'd  rest,  courtiers  of  beauteous  freedom, 
To  drench  the  Capitol,  but  that  they  would 
Have  one  man  but  a  man  ?"  (ii.  6.) 

"  Your  fine  Egyptian  cookery 
Shall  have  the  fame.     I  have  heard  that  Julius  Caesar 
Grew  fat  with  feasting  there"  (ii.  6). 
"  When  Antony  found  Julius  Caesar  dead, 
He  cried  almost  to  roaring ;  and  he  wept 
When  at  Philippi  he  found  Brutus  slain"  (iii.  2). 

"Thyreus.  Give  me  grace  to  lay 
My  duty  on  your  hand. 

Cleopatra.  Your  Caesar's  father  oft, 

When  he  hath  mus'd  of  taking  kingdoms  in, 
Bestow'd  his  lips  on  that  unworthy  place, 
As  it  rain'd  kisses"  (iii.  11). 
These  passages,  taken  all  together,  and  some  of  them  more 
particularly,  will  probably  be  thought  to  afford  a  considerably 
more  comprehensive  representation  of  "  the  mighty  Julius" 
than  the  Play  which  bears  his  name.     We  cannot  be  sure 
that  that  Play  was  so  entitled  by  Shakespeare.     "  The  Trag- 
edy of  Julius  Caesar,"  or  "  The  Life  and  Death  of  Julius  Cae- 
sar," would  describe  no  more  than  the  half  of  it.     Caesar's 
part  terminates  with  the  opening  of  the  Third  Act ;  after 
that,  on  to  the  end,  we  have  nothing  more  of  him  but  his  dead 


3o  JULIUS  C^SAR. 

body,  his  ghost,  and  his  memory.  The  Play  might  more  fitly 
be  called  after  Brutus  than  after  Caesar.  And  still  more  re- 
markable is  the  partial  delineation  that  we  have  of  the  man. 
We  have  a  distinct  exhibition  of  little  else  beyond  his  vanity 
and  arrogance,  relieved  and  set  off  by  his  good  nature  or  af- 
fability. He  is  brought  before  us  only  as  "  the  spoilt  child 
of  victory."  All  the  grandeur  and  predominance  of  his  char- 
acter is  kept  in  the  background,  or  in  the  shade — to  be  in- 
ferred, at  most,  from  what  is  said  by  the  other  dramatis  per- 
sona— by  Cassius  on  the  one  hand  and  by  Antony  on  the 
other  in  the  expression  of  their  own  diametrically  opposite 
natures  and  aims,  and  in  a  very  few  words  by  the  calmer, 
milder,  and  juster  Brutus — nowhere  manifested  by  himself. 
It  might  almost  be  suspected  that  the  complete  and  full- 
length  Caesar  had  been  carefully  reserved  for  another  drama. 
Even  Antony  is  only  half  delineated  here,  to  be  brought  for- 
ward again  on  another  scene :  Caesar  needed  such  reproduc- 
tion much  more,  and  was  as  well  entitled  to  a  stage  which  he 
should  tread  without  an  equal.  He  is  only  a  subordinate 
character  in  the  present  Play ;  his  death  is  but  an  incident 
in  the  progress  of  the  plot.  The  first  figures,  standing  con- 
spicuously out  from  all  the  rest,  are  Brutus  and  Cassius. 

Some  of  the  passages  that  have  been  collected  are  further 
curious  and  interesting  as  being  other  renderings  of  concep- 
tions that  are  also  found  in  the  present  Play,  and  as  conse- 
quently furnishing  data  both  for  the  problem  of  the  chrono- 
logical arrangement  of  the  Plays,  and  for  the  general  history 
of  the  mind  and  artistic  genius  of  the  writer.  After  all  the 
commentatorship  and  criticism  of  which  the  works  of  Shake- 
speare have  been  the  subject,  they  still  remain  to  be  studied 
in  their  totality  with  a  special  reference  to  himself.  The 
man  Shakespeare,  as  read  in  his  works— Shakespeare  as 
there  revealed,  not  only  in  his  genius  and  intellectual  pmv 
ers,  but  in  his  character,  disposition,  temper,  opinions,  tastes, 
prejudices — is  a  book  yet  to  be  written. 


INTRODUCTION.  31 

[From  Mrs.  Jameson's  "Characteristics  of  Women."] 
Almost  every  one  knows  by  heart  Lady  Percy's  celebrated 
address  to  her  husband,  beginning, 

"  O,  my  good  lord,  why  are  you  thus  alone  ?"* 
and  that  of  Portia  to  Brutus,  in  Julius  Caesar, 
..."  You  've  ungently,  Brutus, 
Stol'n  from  my  bed." 

The  situation  is  exactly  similar,  the  topics  of  remonstrance 
are  nearly  the  same ;  the  sentiments  and  the  style  as  oppo- 
site as  are  the  characters  of  the  two  women.  Lady  Percy  is 
evidently  accustomed  to  win  more  from  her  fiery  lord  by  ca- 
resses than  by  reason:  he  loves  her  in  his  rough  way,  "as 
Harry  Percy's  wife,"  but  she  has  no  real  influence  over  him ; 
he  has  no  confidence  in  her. 

"lady  Percy.  ...     In  faith, 

I  '11  know  your  business,  Harry,  that  I  will. 
I  fear  my  brother  Mortimer  doth  stir 
About  this  title,  and  hath  sent  for  you 
To  line  his  enterprise  ;  but  if  you  go — 

Hotspur.  So  far  afoot,  I  shall  be  weary,  love  !" 

The  whole  scene  is  admirable,  but  unnecessary  here,  because 
it  illustrates  no  point  of  character  in  her.  Lady  Percy  has 
no  character,  properly  so  called,  whereas  that  of  Portia  is 
very  distinctly  and  faithfully  drawn  from  the  outline  furnished 
by  Plutarch.  Lady  Percy's  fond  upbraidings,  and  her  half- 
playful,  half- pouting  entreaties,  scarcely  gain  her  husband's 
attention.  Portia,  with  true  matronly  dignity  and  tenderness, 
pleads  her  right  to  share  her  husband's  thoughts,  and  proves 
it  too. 

"  I  grant,  I  am  a  woman,  but,  withal, 

A  woman  that  Lord  Brutus  took  to  wife  ; 

I  grant,  I  am  a  woman,  but,  withal, 

A  woman  well  reputed,  Cato's  daughter. 


*  I  Henry  IV.  ii.  3. 


32  JULIUS  C^SAP. 

Think  you,  I  am  no  stronger  than  my  sex, 
Being  so  father'd,  and  so  husbanded  ? 

Brutus.  You  are  my  true  and  honourable  wife  : 
As  dear  to  me  as  are  the  ruddy  drops 
That  visit  my  sad  heart !" 

Portia,  as  Shakespeare  has  truly  felt  and  represented  the 
character,  is  but  a  softened  reflection  of  that  of  her  husband 
Brutus  :  in  him  we  see  an  excess  of  natural  sensibility,  an  al- 
most womanish  tenderness  of  heart,  repressed  by  the  tenets 
of  his  austere  philosophy :  a  stoic  by  profession,  and  in  real- 
ity the  reverse — acting  deeds  against  his  nature  by  the  strong 
force  of  principle  and  will.  In  Portia  there  is  the  same  pro- 
found and  passionate  feeling,  and  all  her  sex's  softness  and 
timidity  held  in  check  by  that  self-discipline,  that  stately  dig- 
nity, which  she  thought  became  a  woman  "  so  fathered  and 
so  husbanded."  The  fact  of  her  inflicting  on  herself  a  vol- 
untary wound  to  try  her  own  fortitude  is  perhaps  the  strongest 
proof  of  this  disposition.  Plutarch  relates  that  on  the  day 
on  which  Caesar  was  assassinated,  Portia  appeared  overcome 
with  terror,  and  even  swooned  away,  but  did  not  in  her  emo- 
tion utter  a  word  which  could  affect  the  conspirators.  Shake- 
speare has  rendered  this  circumstance  literally. 

"Portia.  I  prithee,  boy,  run  to  the  senate-house  ; 
Stay  not  to  answer  me,  but  get  thee  gone. 
Why  dost  thou  stay  ? 

Lucius.  To  know  my  errand,  madam. 

Portia.  I  would  have  had  thee  there  and  here  again, 
Ere  I  can  tell  thee  what  thou  should'st  do  there. 

0  constancy  !  be  strong  upon  my  side  : 

Set  a  huge  mountain  'tween  my  heart  and  tongue  ! 

1  have  a  man's  mind,  but  a  woman's  might 

Ay  me  !  how  weak  a  thing 

The  heart  of  woman  is  !     O,  I  grow  faint,"  etc. 

There  is  another  beautiful  incident  related  by  Plutarch 
which  could  not  well  be  dramatized.  When  Brutus  and  Por- 
tia parted  for  the  last  time  in  the  island  of  Nisida,  she  re 


INTRODUCTION.  ^ 

strained  all  expression  of  grief  that  she  might  not  shake  his 
fortitude  j  but  afterwards,  in  passing  through  a  chamber  in 
which  there  hung  a  picture  of  Hector  and  Andromache,  she 
stopped,  gazed  upon  it  for  a  time  with  a  settled  sorrow,  and 
at  length  burst  into  a  passion  of  tears.* 

If  Portia  had  been  a  Christian,  and  lived  in  later  times, 
she  might  have  been  another  Lady  Russel ;  but  she  made  a 
poor  stoic.  No  factitious  or  external  control  was  sufficient 
to  restrain  such  an  exuberance  of  sensibility  and  fancy ;  and 
those  who  praise  the  philosophy  of  Portia  and  the  heroism  of 
her  death,  certainly  mistook  the  character  altogether.  It  is 
evident,  from  the  manner  of  her  death,  that  it  was  not  delib- 
erate self-destruction,  "  after  the  high  Roman  fashion,"  but 
took  place  in  a  paroxysm  of  madness,  caused  by  overwrought 
and  suppressed  feeling,  grief,  terror,  and  suspense.  Shake- 
speare has  thus  represented  it : — 

"Brtitus.  O  Cassius,  I  am  sick  of  many  griefs  ! 
Cassius.  Of  your  philosophy  you  make  no  use, 
If  you  give  place  to  accidental  evils. 
Brutus.  No  man  bears  sorrow  better. — Portia  is  dead. 
Cassius.  Ha  !— Portia  ? 
Brtitus.  She  is  dead. 

Cassius.  How  'scap'd  I  killing,  when  I  cross'd  you  so  ? — 
O  insupportable  and  touching  loss  ! — 
Upon  what  sickness? 

Brutus.  Impatient  of  my  absence, 

And  grief  that  young  Octavius  with  Mark  Antony 
Had  made  themselves  so  strong ; — for  with  her  death 
These  tidings  came. — With  this  she  fell  distract, 
And,  her  attendants  absent,  swallow'd  fire." 

So  much  for  woman's  philosophy ! 

*  When  at  Naples,  I  have  often  stood  upon  the  rock  at  the  extreme 
point  of  Posilippo,  and  looked  down  upon  the  little  island  of  Nisida,  and 
thought  of  this  scene  till  I  forgot  the  Lazaretto  which  now  deforms  it  : 
deforms  it,  however,  to  the  fancy  only,  for  the  building  itself,  as  it  rises 
from  amid  the  vines,  the  cypresses,  and  fig-trees  which  embosom  it,  looks 
beautiful  at  a  distance. 

c 


CAIUS  JULIUS  CESAR. 


Ill 


1 


C/ESAR 


/     y,/v™     Y\    --^^ 


DRAMATIS  PERSONS. 


Triumvirs, 


after   the    death 
lius  Caesar. 


of 


Julius  CjEsar. 
Octavius  Cjssak, 
Marcus  Antonius, 
M.i^Minus  Lepidus 
Cicero,  \ 

Publius,  [    Senators. 

Popilius  Lena,    ) 
Marcus  Brutus,      1 
Cassius, 
Casca, 

lJ^k, us  S'  f  Conspirators  against  J  uhus  Caesar 

Decius  Brutus. 
Metellus  Cimber 

ClNNA, 

Flavius, 

Marullus, 

Aktemidorus,  a  Sophist  of  Cnidos. 

A  Soothsayer. 

Cinna,  a  Poet. 

Another  Poet. 

Lucilius,         ] 

Titinius, 

Mbssala, 

Young  Cato, 

Voi.umnius, 

Varro, 

Clitus, 

Claudius, 

Sir  a  to, 

Lucius, 

Dardanius.  J 

Pindarus,  Servant  to  Cassius. 

Calpurnia,  Wife  to  Ca-sar. 
Portia,  Wife  to  Brutus. 

Senators,  Citizens,  Guards.  Attendants,  etc. 

Scene,  during  a  great  f>art  of  the  /\'ay.  at  Koine  ;  after- 
wards at  Sardis,  and  near  Phdippi. 


'rihunes 


Friends  to  Brutus  and  Cassius. 


Servants  to  Brutus- 


ROMAN    VICTORY. 


ACT  I. 

Scene  I.     Rome.     A  Street. 
Enter  Flavius,  Marullus,  and  a  rabble  of  Citizens. 

Flavius.  Hence  !  home,  you  idle  creatures,  get  you  home. 
Is  this  a  holiday  ?     What !  know  you  not, 
Being  mechanical,  you  ought  not  walk 
Upon  a  labouring  day  without  the  sign 
Of  your  profession?— Speak,  what  trade  art  thou? 

i  Citizen.  Why,  sir,  a  carpenter. 

Marullus.  Where  is  thy  leather  apron,  and  thy  rule  ? 
What  dost  thou  with  thy  best  apparel  on  ? — 
You,  sir  ;  what  trade  are  you  ? 

2  Citizen.  Truly,  sir,  in  respect  of  a  fine  workman,  I  am 
but,  as  you  would  say,  a  cobbler.  " 


38  JULIUS  CA£SAR. 

Manillas.  But  what  trade  art  thou  ?     Answer  me  directly. 

2  Citizen.  A  trade,  sir,  that  I  hope  I  may  use  with  a  safe 
conscience  ;  which  is,  indeed,  sir,  a  mender  of  bad  soles. 

Marullus.  What  trade,  thou  knave  ?  thou  naughty  knave, 
what  trade  ?  ■ 

2  Citizen.  Nay,  I  beseech  you,  sir,  be  not  out  with  me ;  yet 
if  you  be  out,  sir,  I  can  mend  you. 

Marullus.  What  mean'st  thou  by  that?  Mend  me,  thou 
saucy  fellow  ? 

2  Citizen.  Why,  sir,  cobble  you.  *> 

Flavius.  Thou  art  a  cobbler,  art  thou  ? 

2  Citizen.  Truly,  sir,  all  that  I  live  by  is  with  the  awl.  I 
meddle  with  no  tradesman's  matters,  nor  women's  matters : 
but  withal  I  am,  indeed,  sir,  a  surgeon  to  old  shoes ;  when 
they  are  in  great  danger,  I  recover  them.  As  proper  men  as 
ever  trod  upon  neat's  leather  have  gone  upon  my  handiwork. 

Flavius.  But  wherefore  art  not  in  thy  shop  to-day  ? 
Why  dost  thou  lead  these  men  about  the  streets  ? 

2  Citizen.  Truly,  sir,  to  wear  out  their  shoes,  to  get  myself 
into  more  work.  But,  indeed,  sir,  we  make  holiday  to  see 
Caesar,  and  to  rejoice  in  his  triumph.  3» 

Marullus.  Wherefore  rejoice  ?     What  conquest  brings  he 
home? 
What  tributaries  follow  him  to  Rome, 
To  grace  in  captive  bonds  his  chariot  wheels  ? 
You  blocks,  you  stones,  you  worse  than  senseless  things  ! 
O,  you  hard  hearts,  you  cruel  men  of  Rome, 
Knew  you  not  Pompey  ?     Many  a  time  and  oft 
Have  you  climb'd  up  to  walls  and  battlements, 
To  towers  and  windows,  yea,  to  chimney-tops, 
Your  infants  in  your  arms,  and  there  have  sat  40 

The  livelong  day,  with  patient  expectation, 
To  see  great  Pompey  pass  the  streets  of  Rome ; 
And,  when  you  saw  his  chafiot  but  appear, 
Have  you  not  made  an  universal  shout, 


ACT  /.     SCENE  I. 


39 


That  Tiber  trembled  underneath  her  banks, 

To  hear  the  replication  of  your  sounds 

Made  in  her  concave  shores  ? 

And  do  you  now  put  on  your  best  attire  ? 

And  do  you  now  cull  out  a  holiday  ? 

And  do  you  now  strew  flowers  in  his  way  5^ 

That  comes  in  triumph  over  Pompey's  blood  ? 

Be  gone ! 

Run  to  your  houses,  fall  upon  your  knees, 

Pray  to  the  gods  to  intermit  the  plague 

That  needs  must  light  on  this  ingratitude. 

Flavius.  Go,  go,  good  countrymen,  and,  for  this  fault, 
Assemble  all  the  poor  men  of  your  sort ; 
Draw  them  to  Tiber  banks,  and  weep  your  tears 
Into  the  channel,  till  the  lowest  stream 

Do  kiss  the  most  exalted  shores  of  all. —     [Exeunt  Citizens. 
See  whether  their  basest  metal  be  not  mov'd!  61 

They  vanish  tongue-tied  in  their  guiltiness. 
Go  you  clown  that  way  towards  the  Capitol ; 
This  way  will  I.     Disrobe  the  images, 
If  you  do  find  them  deck'd  with  ceremonies. 

Marullus.  May  we  do  so  ? 
You  know  it  is  the  feast  of  Lupercal. 

Flavius.  It  is  no  matter  ;  let  no  images 
Be  hung  with  Caesar's  trophies.     I'll  about, 
And  drive  away  the  vulgar  from  the  streets  ;  ?0 

So  do  you  too,  where  you  perceive  them  thick. 
These  growing  feathers  pluck'd  from  Caesar's  wing 
Will  make  him  fly  an  ordinary  pitch, 
Who  else  would  soar  above  the  view  of  men, 
And  keep  us  all  in  servile  fearfulness.  [Exeunt. 


4o  JULIUS  CsESAR. 


Scene  II.     A  Public  Place. 

Enter,  in  procession  with  Music,  C^sar  ;  Antony,  for  the 
course;  Calpurnia,  Portia,  Decius,  Cicero,  Brutus, 
Cassius,  and  Casca,  a  great  crowd  following,  among  tlicm 
a  Soothsayer. 

Ccesar.  Calpurnia  ! 

Casca.  Peace,  ho  !  Caesar  speaks.  [Music  ceases. 

Ccesar.  Calpurnia  ! 

Calpurnia.  Here,  my  lord. 

Ccesar.  Stand  you  directly  in  Antonius'  way, 
When  he  doth  run  his  course. — Antonius  ! 

Antony.  Caesar,  my  lord  ! 

Ccesar.  Forget  not,  in  your  speed,  Antonius, 
To  touch  Calpurnia  ;  for  our  elders  say, 
The  barren,  touched  in  this  holy  chase, 
Shake  off  their  sterile  curse. 

Antony.  I  shall  remember  ; 

When  Caesar  says  'Do  this,'  it  is  perform 'd.  to 

Ccesar.   Set  on,  and  leave  no  ceremony  out.  [Music. 

Soothsayer.  Caesar ! 

Ccesar.  Ha  !  who  calls  ? 

Casca.  Bid  every  noise  be  still. — Peace  yet  again  ! 

[Music  ceases. 

Ccesar.  Wrho  is  it  in  the  press  that  calls  on  me? 
I  hear  a  tongue,  shriller  than  all  the  music, 
Cry,  Caesar.     Speak  ;  Caesar  is  turn'd  to  hear. 

Soothsayer.  Beware  the  ides  of  March. 

Ccesar.  What  man  is  that? 

Brutus.  A  soothsayer  bids  you  beware  the  ides  of  March. 

Ccesar.  Set  him  before  me  ;  let  me  see  his  face.  19 

Cassius.  Fellow, come  from  the  throng;  look  upon  Cesar. 

Ccesar.  What  say'st  thou  to  me  now?     Speak  once  again. 

Soothsayer.   Beware  the  ides  of  March. 


ACT  I.     SCENE  II.  41 

Gzsar.  He  is  a  dreamer;  let  us  leave  him  : — pass. 

[Sennet.     Exeunt  all  but  Brutus  and  Cassius. 

Cassius.  Will  you  go  see  the  order  of  the  course? 

Brutus.  Not  I. 

Cassius.  I  pray  you,  do. 

Brutus.  I  am  not  gamesome  ;  I  do  lack  some  part 
Of  that  quick  spirit  that  is  in  Antony. 
Let  me  not  hinder,  Cassius,  your  desires; 
I  '11  leave  you. 

Cassius.  Brutus,  I  do  observe  you  now  of  late : 

I  have  not  from  your  eyes  that  gentleness  s» 

And  show  of  love  as  I  was  wont  to  have ; 
You  bear  too  stubborn  and  too  strange  a  hand 
Over  your  friend  that  loves  you. 

Brutus.  Cassius, 

Be  not  deceiv'd ;  if  I  have  veil'd  my  look, 
I  turn  the  trouble  of  my  countenance 
Merely  upon  myself.     Vexed  I  am 
Of  late  with  passions  of  so'me  difference, 
Conceptions  only  proper  to  myself, 
Which  give  some  soil,  perhaps,  to  my  behaviours  ; 
But  let  not  therefore  my  good  friends  be  griev'd —  40 

Among  which  number,  Cassius,  be  you  one — 
Nor  construe  any  further  my  neglect, 
Than  that  poor  Brutus,  with  himself  at  war, 
Forgets  the  shows  of  love  to  other  men. 

Cassius.  Then,  Brutus,  I  have  much  mistook  your  passion ; 
By  means  whereof  this  breast  of  mine  hath  buried 
Thoughts  of  great  value,  worthy  cogitations. 
Tell  me,  good  Brutus,  can  you  see  your  face  ? 

Brutus.  No,  Cassius  ;  for  the  eye  sees  not  itself, 
But  by  reflection  by  some  other  things. 

Cassius.  'T  is  just ;  so 

And  it  is  very  much  lamented,  Brutus, 
That  you  have  no  such  mirrors  as  will  turn 


42  JULIUS  Cs£SAA>. 

Your  hidden  worthiness  into  your  eye, 
That  you  might  see  your  shadow.     I  have  heard, 
Where  many  of  the  best  respect  in  Rome, 
Except  immortal  Caesar,  speaking  of  Brutus, 
And  groaning  underneath  this  age's  yoke, 
Have  wish'd  that  noble  Brutus  had  his  eyes. 

Brutus.  Into  what  dangers  would  you  lead  me,  Cassius, 
That  you  would  have  me  seek  into  myself  60 

For  that  which  is  not  in  me  ? 

Cassius.  Therefore,  good  Brutus,  be  prepar'd  to  hear ; 
And,  since  you  know  you  cannot  see  yourself 
So  well  as  by  reflection,  I  your  glass 
Will  modestly  discover  to  yourself 
That  of  yourself  which  you  yet  know  not  of. 
And  be  not  jealous  on  me,  gentle  Brutus : 
Were  I  a  common  laugher,  or  did  use 
To  stale  with  ordinary  oaths  my  love 

To  every  new  protester;  if  you  know  70 

That  I  do  fawn  on  men,  and  hug  them  hard, 
And  after  scandal  them  ;  or  if  you  know 
That  I  profess  myself  in  banqueting 
To  all  the  rout,  then  hold  me  dangerous.  [Flourish  and  shout. 

Brutus.  What  means  this  shouting?    I  do  fear,  the  people 
Choose  Caesar  for  their  king. 

Cassius.  Ay,  do  you  fear  it  ? 

Then  must  I  think  you  would  not  have  it  so. 

Brutus.  I  would  not,  Cassius,  yet  I  love  him  well. — 
But  wherefore  do  you  hold  me  here  so  long? 
What  is  it  that  you  would  impart  to  me?  80 

If  it  be  aught  toward  the  general  good, 
Set  honour  in  one  eye,  and  death  i'  the  other, 
And  I  will  look  on  both  indifferently  ; 
For  let  the  gods  so  speed  me  as  I  love 
The  name  of  honour  more  than  I  fear  death. 

Cassius.  I  know  that  virtue  to  be  in  vou,  Brutus, 


ACT  I.     SCENE  II 

As  well  as  I  do  know  your  outward  favour. 

Well,  honour  is  the  subject  of  my  story. — 

I  cannot  tell  what  you  and  other  men 

Think  of  this  life,  but,  for  my  single  self, 

I  had  as  lief  not  be  as  live  to  be 

In  awe  of  such  a  thing  as  I  myself. 

I  was  born  free  as  Caesar,  so  were  you  ; 

We  both  have  fed  as  well,  and  we  can  both 

Endure  the  winter's  cold  as  well  as  he. 

For  once,  upon  a  raw  and  gusty  day, 

The  troubled  Tiber  chafing  with  her  shores, 

Caesar  said  to  me, '  Dar'st  thou,  Cassius,  now 

Leap  in  with  me  into  this  angry  flood, 

And  swim  to  yonder  point ■?'     Upon  the  word, 

Accoutred  as  I  was,  I  plunged  in, 

And  bade  him  follow ;  so,  indeed,  he  did. 

The  torrent  roar'd,  and  we  did  buffet  it 

With  lusty  sinews,  throwing  it  aside, 

And  stemming  it  with  hearts  of  controversy. 

But  ere  we  could  arrive  the  point  propos'd, 

Caesar  cried,'  Help  me,  Cassius,  or  I  sink.' 

I,  as  iEneas,  our  great  ancestor, 

Did  from  the  flames  of  Troy  upon  his  shoulder 

The  old  Anchises  bear,  so  from  the  waves  of  Tiber 

Did  I  the  tired  Caesar.     And  this  man 

Is  now  become  a  god  ;  and  Cassius  is 

A  wretched  creature,  and  must  bend  his  body 

If  Caesar  carelessly  but  nod  on  him. 

He  had  a  fever  when  he  was  in  Spain, 

And  when  the  fit  was  on  him  I  did  mark 

How  he  did  shake  :  't  is  true,  this  god  did  shake ; 

His  coward  lips  did  from  their  colour  fly, 

And  that  same  eye  whose  bend  doth  awe  the  world 

Did  lose  his  lustre.     I  did  hear  him  groan  ; 

Ay,  and  that  tongue  of  his,  that  bade  the  Romans 


43 


44  JULIUS  CAISAR. 

Mark  him  and  write  his  speeches  in  their  books, 

Alas!  it  cried, 'Give  me  some  drink,  Titinius,' 

As  a  sick  girl.     Ye  gods,  it  doth  amaze  me, 

A  man  of  such  a  feeble  temper  should 

So  get  the  start  of  the  majestic  world, 

And  bear  the  palm  alone.  [Shout.     Flourish. 

Brutus.  Another  general  shout ! 
1  do  believe  that  these  applauses  are 
For  some  new  honours  that  are  heap'd  on  Caesar.  130 

Cassius.  Why,  man,  he  doth  bestride  the  narrow  world 
Like  a  Colossus,  and  we  petty  men 
Walk  under  his  huge  legs  and  peep  about 
To  find  ourselves  dishonourable  graves. 
Men  at  some  time  are  masters  of  their  fates ; 
The  fault,  dear  Brutus,  is  not  in  our  stars, 
But  in  ourselves,  that  we  are  underlings. 
Brutus  and  Caesar:  what  should  be  in  that  Caesar? 
Why  should  that  name  be  sounded  more  than  yours? 
Write  them  together,  yours  is  as  fair  a  name  ;  m° 

Sound  them,  it  cloth  become  the  mouth  as  well ; 
Weigh  them,  it  is  as  heavy ;  conjure  with  'em, 
1  Brutus'  will  start  a  spirit  as  soon  as  '  Caesar.'  [Shout. 

Now,  in  the  names  of  all  the  gods  at  once, 
Upon  what  meat  doth  this  our  Caesar  feed, 
That  he  is  grown  so  great?     Age,  thou  art  sham'd  ! 
Rome,  thou  hast  lost  the  breed  of  noble  bloods  ! 
When  went  there  by  an  age,  since  the  great  flood, 
But  it  was  fam'd  with  more  than  with  one  man  ? 
When  could  they  say  till  now  that  talk'd  of  Rome  150 

That  her  wide  walls  encompass'd  but  one  man? 
Now  is  it  Rome  indeed,  and  room  enough, 
When  there  is  in  it  but  one  only  man. 
O,  you  and  I  have  heard  our  fathers  say, 
There  was  a  Brutus  once  that  would  have  brook'd 
The  eternal  devil  to  keep  his  state  in  Rome 
As  easily  as  a  kin<i ! 


ACT  I.     SCENE  II.  45 

Brutus.  That  you  do  love  me,  I  am  nothing  jealous  ; 
What  you  would  work  me  to,  I  have  some  aim  ; 
How  I  have  thought  of  this,  and  of  these  times,  160 

I  shall  recount  hereafter ;  for  this  present, 
I  would  not,  so  with  love  I  might  entreat  you, 
Be  any  further  mov'd.     What  you  have  said, 
I  will  consider ;  what  you  have  to  say, 
I  will  with  patience  hear,  and  find  a  time 
Both  meet  to  hear  and  answer  such  high  things. 
Till  then,  my  noble  friend,  chew  upon  this : 
Brutus  had  rather  be  a  villager 
Than  to  repute  himself  a  son  of  Rome 

Under  these  hard  conditions  as  this  time  170 

Is  like  to  lay  upon  us. 

Cassias.  I  am  glad 

That  my  weak  words  have  struck  but  thus  much  show 
Of  fire  from  Brutus. 

Enter  Caesar  and  his  tram. 

Brutus.  The  games  are  done,  and  Caesar  is  returning. 

Cassius.  As  they  pass  by,  pluck  Casca  by  the  sleeve  ; 
And  he  will,  after  his  sour  fashion,  tell  you 
What  hath  proceeded  worthy  note  to-day. 

Brutus.  I  will  do  so. — But,  look  you,  Cassius, 
The  angry  spot  doth  glow  on  Caesar's  brow, 
And  all  the  rest  look  like  a  chidden  train  ;  iSo 

Calpurnia's  cheek  is  pale,  and  Cicero 
Looks  with  such  ferret  and  such  fiery  eyes 
As  we  have  seen  him  in  the  Capitol, 
Being  cross'd  in  conference  by  some  senators. 

Cassius.  Casca  will  tell  us  what  the  matter  is. 

Ccesar.   Antonius  ! 

Antony.  Caesar? 

Casar.  Let  me  have  men  about  me  that  are  fat, 
Sleek-headed  men,  and  such  as  sleep  o'  nights  : 


46   •  JULIUS  CsESAR. 

Yond  Cassius  has  a  lean  and  hungry  look  ;  190 

He  thinks  too  much :  such  men  are  dangerous. 

Antony.  Fear  him  not,  Caesar;  he  's  not  dangerous. 
He  is  a  noble  Roman  and  well  given. 

Ccesar.  Would  he  were  fatter ! — But  I  fear  him  not. 
Yet  if  my  name  were  liable  to  fear, 
I  do  not  know  the  man  I  should  avoid 
So  soon  as  that  spare  Cassius.     He  reads  much ; 
He  is  a  great  observer,  and  he  looks 
Quite  through  the  deeds  of  men :  he  loves  no  plays, 
As  thou  dost,  Antony;  he  hears  no  music:  200 

Seldom  he  smiles,  and  smiles  in  such  a  sort, 
As  if  he  mock'd  himself,  and  scorn'd  his  spirit 
That  could  be  mov'd  to  smile  at  any  thing. 
Such  men  as  he  be  never  at  heart's  ease 
Whiles  they  behold  a  greater  than  themselves, 
And  therefore  are  they  very  dangerous. 
I  rather  tell  thee  what  is  to  be  fear'd 
Than  what  I  fear ;  for  always  I  am  Caesar. 
Come  on  my  right  hand,  for  this  ear  is  deaf, 
And  tell  me  truly  what  thou  think'st  of  him.  210 

f  Sennet.    Exeunt  Ccesar  and  his  train.     Casca  remains. 

Casca.  You  pull'd  me  by  the  cloak;  would  you  speak  with 
me? 

Brutus.  Ay,  Casca ;  tell  us  what  hath  chanc'd  to-day, 
That  Caesar  looks  so  sad. 

Casca.  Why,  you  were  with  him, were  you  not? 

Brutus.  I  should  not  then  ask  Casca  what  had  chanc'd. 

Casca.  Why,  there  was  a  crown  offered  him  ;  and,  being 
offered  him,  he  put  it  by  with  the  back  of  his  hand,  thus; 
and  then  the  people  fell  a-shouting. 

Brutus.  What  was  the  second  noise  for? 

Casca.  Why,  for  that  too. 

Cassius.  They  shouted  thrice;  what  was  the  last  cry  for? 

Casca.  Why,  for  that  too. 


ACT  I.     SCENE  II. 


47 


Brutus.  Was  the  crown  offered  him  thrice? 

Casca.  Ay,  marry,  was 't,  and  he  put  it  by  thrice,  every  time 
gentler  than  other;  and  at  every  putting-by  mine  honest 
neighbours  shouted. 

Cassius.  Who  offer'd  him  the  crown  ? 

Casca.  Why,  Antony. 

Brutus.  Tell  us  the  manner  of  it,  gentle  Casca.  229 

Casca.  I  can  as  well  be  hanged  as  tell  the  manner  of  it;  it 
was  mere  foolery,  I  did  not  mark  it.  I  saw  Mark  Antony 
offer  him  a  crown  ; — yet 't  was  not  a  crown  neither, 't  was  one 
of  these  coronets; — and,  as  I  told  you,  he  put  it  by  once ;  but, 
for  all  that,  to  my  thinking,  he  would  fain  have  had  it.  Then 
he  offered  it  to  him  again;  then  he  put  it  by  again  ;  but,  to 
my  thinking,  he  was  very  loath  to  lay  his  lingers  off  it.  And 
then  he  offered  it  the  third  time  ;  he  put  it  the  third  time  by  ; 
and  still  as  he  refused  it,  the  rabblement  shouted,  and  clapped 
their  chopped  hands,  and  threw  up  their  sweaty  nightcaps,  and 
uttered  such  a  deal  of  stinking  breath  because  Caesar  refused 
the  crown,  that  it  had  almost  choked  Caesar ;  for  he  swooned, 
and  fell  down  at  it.  And,  for  mine  own  part,  I  durst  not 
laugh,  for  fear  of  opening  my  lips  and  receiving  the  bad  air. 

Cassius.  But,  soft,  I  pray  you.     What !  did  Caesar  swoon  ? 

Casca.  He  fell  down  in  the  market-place,  and  foamed  at 
mouth,  and  was  speechless.  246 

Brutus.  T  is  very  like  ;  he  hath  the  falling  sickness. 

Cassius.  No,  Caesar  hath  it  not ;  but  you  and  I, 
And  honest  Casca,  we  have  the  falling  sickness. 

Casca.  I  know  not  what  you  mean  by  that;  but  I  am  sure 
Caesar  fell  down.  If  the  tag-rag  people  did  not  clap  him  and 
hiss  him,  according  as  he  pleased  and  displeased  them,  as  they 
use  to  do  the  players  in  the  theatre,  I  am  no  true  man.       253 

Brutus.  WThat  said  he  when  he  came  unto  himself? 

Casca.  Marry,  before  he  fell  down,  when  he  perceived  the 
common  herd  was  glad  he  refused  the  crown,  he  plucked  me 
ope  his  doublet  and  offered  them  his  throat  to  cut. — An  I  had 


48  JULIUS  CAlSAR. 

been  a  man  of  any  occupation,  if  I  would  not  have  taken  him 
at  a  word,  I  would  I  might  go  to  hell  among  the  rogues.  And 
so  he  fell.  When  he  came  to  himself  again,  he  said,  if  he  had 
done  or  said  any  thing  amiss,  he  desired  their  worships  to 
think  it  was  his  infirmity.  Three  or  four  wenches,  where  I 
stood,  cried,' Alas,  good  soul !' — and  forgave  him  with  all  their 
hearts.  But  there  's  no  heed  to  be  taken  of  them  ;  if  Caesar 
had  stabbed  their  mothers,  they  would  have  done  no  less.    265 

Brutus.  And  after  that  he  came  thus  sad  away  ? 

Casca.  Ay. 

Cassius.  Did  Cicero  say  any  thing? 

Casca.  Ay,  he  spoke  Greek. 

Cassius.  To  what  effect  ?  271 

Casca.  Nay,  an  I  tell  you  that,  I  '11  ne'er  look  you  i'  the  face 
again.  But  those  that  understood  him  smiled  at  one  another 
and  shook  their  heads ;  but,  for  my  own  part,  it  was  Greek  to 
me.  I  could  tell  you  more  news  too  :  Marullus  and  Flavius, 
for  pulling  scarfs  off  Caesar's  images,  are  put  to  silence.  Fare 
you  well.  There  was  more  foolery  yet,  if  I  could  remem- 
ber it. 

Cassius.  Will  you  sup  with  me  to-night,  Casca? 

Casca.  No,  I  am  promised  forth. 

Cassius.  Will  you  dine  with  me  to-morrow?  28d 

Casca.  Ay,  if  I  be  alive,  and  your  mind  hold,  and  your  din- 
ner worth  the  eating. 

Cassius.  Good;  I  will  expect  you. 

Casca.  Do  so.     Farewell,  both.  [Exit  Ca 

Brutus.  What  a  blunt  fellow  is  this  grown  to  be! 
He  was  quick  mettle  when  he  went  to  school. 

Cassius.  So  is  he  now,  in  execution 
Of  any  bold  or  noble  enterprise. 
However  he  puts  on  this  tardy  form. 

This  rudeness  is  a  sauce  to  his  good  wit,  .290 

Which  gives  men  stomach  to  digest  his  words 
With  better  appetite. 


ACT  I.    SCENE  III. 


49 


Brutus.  And  so  it  is.     For  this  time  I  will  leave  you  ; 
To-morrow  if  you  please  to  speak  with  me, 
I  will  come  home  to  you  ;  or,  if  you  will, 
Come  home  to  me,  and  I  will  wait  for  you. 

Cassius.  I  will  do  so  ; — till  then,  think  of  the  world. — 

[Exit  Brutus. 
'Well,  Brutus,  thou  art  noble  ;  yet,  I  see, 
Thy  honourable  metal  may  be  wrought 

From  that  it  is  dispos'd  :  therefore  it  is  meet  3°° 

That  noble  minds  keep  ever  with  their  likes ; 
For  who  so  firm  that  cannot  be  seduc'd  ? 
Caesar  doth  bear  me  hard,  but  he  loves  Brutus ; 
If  I  were  Brutus  now,  and  he  were  Cassius, 
He  should  not  humour  me.     I  will  this  night, 
In  several  hands,  in  at  his  windows  throw, 
As  if  they  came  from  several  citizens, 
Writings  all  tending  to  the  great  opinion 
That  Rome  holds  of  his  name,  wherein  obscurely 
Caesar's  ambition  shall  be  glanced  at ;  310 

And  after  this  let  Caesar  seat  him  sure, 
For  we  will  shake  him  or  worse  days  endure.  [Exit. 

Scene  III.     A  Street. 

Thunder  a7id  lightning.      Enter,  from  opposite  sides,  Casca, 
with  his  sword  drawn,  and  Cicero. 

Cicero.  Good  even,  Casca.     Brought  you  Caesar  home  ? 
Why  are  you  breathless?  and  why  stare  you  so? 

Casca.  Are  not  you  mov'd,  when  all  the  sway  of  earth 
Shakes  like  a  thing  unfirm  ?     O  Cicero, 
1 1  have  seen  tempests,  when  the  scolding  winds 
Have  riv'd  the  knotty  oaks ;  and  I  have  seen 
The  ambitious  ocean  swell  and  rage  and  foam, 
To  be  exalted  with  the  threatening  clouds  : 
But  never  till  to-night,  never  till  now, 

D 


50  JULIUS  CAESAR. 

Did  I  go  through  a  tempest  dropping  fire.  »o 

Either  there  is  a  civil  strife  in  heaven, 

Or  else  the  world,  too  saucy  with  the  gods, 

Incenses  them  to  send  destruction. 

Cicero.  Why,  saw  you  any  thing  more  wonderful  ? 

Casca.  A  common  slave — you  know  him  well  by  sight — 
Held  up  his  left  hand,  which  did  flame  and  burn 
Like  twenty  torches  join'd,  and  yet  his  hand, 
Not  sensible  of  fire,  remain'd  unscorch'd. 
Besides — I  have  not  since  put  up  my  sword — 
Against  the  Capitol  I  met  a  lion,  ao 

Who  glar'd  upon  me  and  went  surly  by 
Without  annoying  me  ;  and  there  were  drawn 
Upon  a  heap  a  hundred  ghastly  women 
Transformed  with  their  fear,  who  swore  they  saw 
Men  all  in  fire  walk  up  and  down  the  streets. 
And  yesterday  the  bird  of  night  did  sit 
Even  at  noonday  upon  the  market-place, 
Hooting  and  shrieking.     When  these  prodigies 
Do  so  conjointly  meet,  let  not  men  say, 
These  are  their  reasons, — they  are  natural ;  30 

For,  I  believe,  they  are  portentous  things 
Unto  the  climate  that  they  point  upon. 

Cicero.  Indeed,  it  is  a  strange-disposed  time  ; 
But  men  may  construe  things  after  their  fashion, 
Clean  from  the  purpose  of  the  things  themselves. 
Comes  Caesar  to  the  Capitol  tomorrow? 

Casca.  He  doth  ;  for  he  did  bid  Antonius 
Send  word  to  you  he  would  be  there  to-morrow. 

Cicero.  Good  night,  then,  Casca  ;  this  disturbed  sky  M 

Is  not  to  walk  in. 

Casca.  Farewell,  Cicero.  [Exit  Cicero. 


ACT  I.    SCENE  III.  5I 

Enter  Cassius. 

Cassius.  Who  's  there  ? 

Casca.  A  Roman. 

Cassius.  Casca,  by  your  voice. 

Casca.  Your  ear  is  good.     Cassius,  what  night  is  this ! 

Cassius.  A  very  pleasing  night  to  honest  men. 

Casca.   Who  ever  knew  the  heavens  menace  so  ? 

Cassius.  Those  that  have  known  the  earth  so  full  of  faults. 
For  my  part,  I  have  walk'd  about  the  streets, 
Submitting  me  unto  the  perilous  night, 
And  thus  unbraced,  Casca,  as  you  see, 
Have  bar'd  my  bosom  to  the  thunder-stone ; 
And  when  the  cross  blue  lightning  seem'd  to  open  50 

The  breast  of  heaven,  I  did  present  myself 
Even  in  the  aim  and  very  flash  of  it. 

Casca.  But  wherefore  did  you  so  much  tempt  the  heavens  ? 
It  is  the  part  of  men  to  fear  and  tremble 
When  the  most  mighty  gods  by  tokens  send 
Such  dreadful  heralds  to  astonish  us. 

Cassius.  You  are  dull,  Casca,  and  those  sparks  of  life 
That  should  be  in  a  Roman  you  do  want, 
Or  else  you  use  not.     You  look  pale,  and  gaze, 
And  put  on  fear,  and  case  yourself  in  wonder,  60 

To  see  the  strange  impatience  of  the  heavens ; 
But  if  you  would  consider  the  true  cause 
Why  all  these  fires,  why  all  these  gliding  ghosts, 
Why  birds  and  beasts  from  quality  and  kind, 
Why  old  men  fool  and  children  calculate, 
Why  all  these  things  change  from  their  ordinance, 
Their  natures  and  pre-formed  faculties, 
To  monstrous  quality,  why,  you  shall  find 
That  heaven  hath  infus'd  them  with  these  spirits, 
To  make  them  instruments  of  fear  and  warning  70 

Unto  some  monstrous  state.     Now  could  I,  Casca, 


5  2  JULIUS  CjESAR. 

Name  to  thee  a  man  most  like  this  dreadful  night, 

That  thunders,  lightens,  opens  graves,  and  roars 

As  doth  the  lion  in  the  Capitol ; 

A  man  no  mightier  than  thyself  or  me 

In  personal  action,  yet  prodigious  grown 

And  fearful,  as  these  strange  eruptions  are. 

Casca.  'T  is  Caesar  that  you  mean  ;  is  it  not,  Cassius? 

Cassius.  Let  it  be  who  it  is :  for  Romans  now 
Have  thews  and  limbs  like  to  their  ancestors,  80 

But,  woe  the  while  !  our  fathers'  minds  are  dead, 
And  we  are  govern'd  with  our  mothers'  spirits; 
Our  yoke  and  sufferance  show  us  womanish. 

Casca.  Indeed,  they  say,  the  senators  to-morrow 
Mean  to  establish  Caesar  as  a  king ; 
And  he  shall  wear  his  crown  by  sea  and  land, 
In  every  place,  save  here  in  Italy. 

Cassius.  I  know  where  I  will  wear  this  dagger,  then  ; 
Cassius  from  bondage  will  deliver  Cassius. 
Therein,  ye  gods,  you  make  the  weak  most  strong  ;  90 

Therein,  ye  gods,  you  tyrants  do  defeat. 
Nor  stony  tower,  nor  walls  of  beaten  brass, 
Nor  airless  dungeon,  nor  strong  links  of  iron, 
Can  be  retentive  to  the  strength  of  spirit; 
But  life,  being  weary  of  these  worldly  bars, 
Never  lacks  power  to  dismiss  itself. 
If  I  know  this,  know  all  the  world  besides, 
That  part  of  tyranny  that  I  do  bear 
I  can  shake  off  at  pleasure.  [77/ under  still. 

Casca.  So  can  I  ; 

So  every  bondman  in  his  own  hand  bears  100 

The  power  to  cancel  his  captivity. 

Cassius.  And  why  should  Caesar  be  a  tyrant,  then? 
Poor  man  !  I  know  he  would  not  be  a  wolf, 
But  that  he  sees  the  Romans  are  but  sheep; 
He  were  no  lion,  were  not  Romans  hinds. 


ACT  I.    SCENE  III.  53 

Those  that  with  haste  will  make  a  mighty  fire 

Begin  it  with  weak  straws :  what  trash  is  Rome, 

What  rubbish,  and  what  offal,  when  it  serves 

For  the  base  matter  to  illuminate 

So  vile  a  thing  as  Caesar  !     But,  O,  grief!  »° 

Where  hast  thou  led  me  ?     I  perhaps  speak  this 

Before  a  willing  bondman  ;  then  I  know 

My  answer  must  be  made.     But  I  am  arm'd, 

And  dangers  are  to  me  indifferent. 

Casca.  You  speak  to  Casca,  and  to  such  a  man 
That  is  no  fleering  tell-tale.     Hold,  my  hand; 
Be  factious  for  redress  of  all  these  griefs, 
And  I  will  set  this  foot  of  mine  as  far 
As  who  goes  farthest. 

Cassius.  There  's  a  bargain  made. 

Now  know  you,  Casca,  I  have  rnov'd  already  120 

Some  certain  of  the  noblest-minded  Romans 
To  undergo  with  me  an  enterprise 
Of  honourable-dangerous  consequence  ; 
And  I  do  know  by  this  they  stay  for  me 
In  Pompey's  porch :  for  now,  this  fearful  night, 
There  is  no  stir  or  walking  in  the  streets, 
And  the  complexion  of  the  element 
In  favour  's  like  the  work  we  have  in  hand, 
Most  bloody,  fiery,  and  most  terrible. 

Enter  Cinna. 

Casca.  Stand  close  awhile,  for  here  comes  one  in  haste.  130 

Cassius.  'T  is  Cinna ;  I  do  know  him  by  his  gait: 
He  is  a  friend. — Cinna,  where  haste  you  so? 

Cinna.  To  find  out  you.     Who  's  that  ?  Metellus  Cimber  ? 

Cassius.  No,  it  is  Casca  ;  one  incorporate 
To  our  attempt.     Am  I  not  stay'd  for,  Cinna? 

Cinna.   I  am  glad  on  't.     What  a  fearful  night  is  this  ! 
There  's  two  or  three  of  us  have  seen  strange  sights. 


54  JULIUS  C&SAR. 

Cassius.  Am  I  not  stay'd  for?     Tell  me. 

Cinna.  Yes,  you  are. — 

O  Cassius,  if  you  could 
But  win  the  noble  Brutus  to  our  party !  mo 

Cassius.  Be  you  content.     Good  Cinna,  take  this  paper, 
And  look  you  lay  it  in  the  praetor's  chair, 
Where  Brutus  may  but  find  it  j  and  throw  this 
In  at  his  window;  set  this  up  with  wax 
Upon  old  Brutus'  statue :  all  this  done, 
Repair  to  Pompey's  porch,  where  you  shall  find  us. 
Is  Decius  Brutus  and  Trebonius  there? 

Cinna.  All  but  Metellus  Cimber  ;  and  he  's  gone 
To  seek  you  at  your  house.     Well,  I  will  "hie, 
And  so  bestow  these  papers  as  you  bade  me.  150 

Cassius.  That  done,  repair  to  Pompey's  theatre. — 

\Exit  Cinna. 
Come,  Casca,  you  and  I  will  yet  ere  day 
See  Brutus  at  his  house  ;  three  parts  of  him 
Is  ours  already,  and  the  man  entire 
Upon  the  next  encounter  yields  him  ours. 

Casca.  O,  he  sits  high  in  all  the  people's  hearts; 
And  that  which  would  appear  offence  in  us 
His  countenance,  like  richest  alchemy, 
Will  change  to  virtue  and  to  worthiness. 

Cassius.  Him  and  his  worth  and  our  great  need  of  him  16c 
You  have  right  well  conceited.     Let  us  go, 
For  it  is  after  midnight,  and  ere  day 
We  will  awake  him  and  be  sure  of  him.  \Exeunt. 


COIN    OF  CiTCbAK. 


L__ 


ACT  II. 

Scene  I.     Rome.     Brutus 's  Orchard. 

Enter  Brutus. 

Brutus.  What,  Lucius  !  ho  ! — 
I  cannot,  by  the  progress  of  the  stars, 
Give  guess  how  near  to  day. — Lucius,  I  say  ! — 
I  would  it  were  my  fault  to  sleep  so  soundly. — 
When,  Lucius,  when  ?     Awake,  I  say  !     What,  Lucius ! 

Enter  Lucius. 
Lucius.  CalPd  you,  my  lord  ? 
Brutus,  Get  me  a  taper  in  my  study,  Lucius ; 
When  it  is  lighted,  come  and  call  me  here. 

Lucius.   I  will,  my  lord.  [Exit. 

Brutus.  It  must  be  by  his  death  ;  and,  for  my  part,         10 


5  6  JULIUS  C&SAR. 

I  know  no  personal  cause  to  spurn  at  him, 

But  for  the  general.  He  would  be  crown'd  ; — 
j    How  that  might  change  his  nature,  there  's  the  question. 

It  is  the  bright  day  that  brings  forth  the  adder, 

And  that  craves  wary  walking.     Crown  him  ? — that ; — 

And  then,  I  grant,  we  put  a  sting  in  him, 

That  at  his  will  he  may  do  danger  with. 

The  abuse  of  greatness  is  when  it  disjoins 

Remorse  from  power ;  and,  to  speak  truth  of  Caesar, 

I  have  not  known  when  his  affections  sway'd  20 

More  than  his  reason.     But  't  is  a  common  proof 

That  lowliness  is  young  ambition's  ladder, 

Whereto  the  climber-upward  turns  his  face  ; 

But  when  he  once  attains  the  upmost  round 

He  then  unto  the  ladder  turns  his  back, 

Looks  in  the  clouds,  scorning  the  base  degrees 
'    By  which  he  did  ascend.     So  Caesar  may. 

Then,  lest  he  may,  prevent.     And,  since  the  quarrel 

Will  bear  no  colour  for  the  thing  he  is, 

Fashion  it  thus  :  that  what  he  is,  augmented,  30 

Would  run  to  these  and  these  extremities ; 

And  therefore  think  him  as  a  serpent's  egg, 

Which  hatch'd  would,  as  his  kind,  grow  mischievous, 

And  kill  him  in  the  shell. 

Enter  Lucius. 

Lucius.  The  taper  burnetii  in  your  closet,  sir. 
Searching  the  window  for  a  flint,  I  found 
This  paper  thus  seal'd  up,  and,  I  am  sure 
It  did  not  lie  there  when  I  went  to  bed.  [Gives  him  the  letter. 

Brutus.  Get  you  to  bed  again  ;  it  is  not  day. 
Is  not  to-morrow,  boy,  the  ides  of  March  ?  4o 

Lucius.   I  know  not,  sir. 

Brutus.  Look  in  the  calendar,  and  bring  me  word. 

Lucius.   I  will,  sir. 


ACT  II.     SCENE  I.  57 

Brutus.  The  exhalations  whizzing  in  the  air 
Give  so  much  light  that  I  may  read  by  them. 

[Opens  the  tetter,  and  reads. 
'Brutus,  thou  sleep' st ;  awake,  and  see  thyself. 
Shall  Rome,  etc.     Speak,  strike,  redress  /' — 
1  Brutus,  thou  sleep'st ;  awake  !' 
Such  instigations  have  been  often  dropp'd 
Where  I  have  took  them  up.  so 

1  Shall  Rome,  etc'     Thus  must  I  piece  it  out : 
Shall  Rome  stand  under  one  man's  awe?     What!  Rome? 
My  ancestors  did  from  the  streets  of  Rome 
The  Tarquin  drive,  when  he  was  call'd  a  king. 
'  Speak,  strike,  redress !'     Am  I  entreated 
To  speak  and  strike?     O  Rome  !  I  make  thee  promise, 
If  the  redress  will  follow,  thou  receivest 
Thy  full  petition  at  the  hand  of  Brutus. 

Enter  Lucius. 
Lucius.   Sir,  March  is  wasted  fifteen  days. 

[Knocking  within. 
Brutus.  'T  is  good.     Go  to  the  gate  ;  somebody  knocks. — 

[Exit  Lucius. 
Since  Cassius  first  did  whet  me  against  Cassar  61 

I  have  not  slept. 

Between  the  acting  of  a  dreadful  thing 
And  the  first  motion,  all  the  interim  is 
Like  a  phantasma  or  a  hideous  dream  ; 
The  genius  and  the  mortal  instruments 
Are  then  in  council,  and  the  state  of  man, 
Like  to  a  little  kingdom,  suffers  then 
The  nature  of  an  insurrection. 

Enter  Lucius. 

Lucius.  Sir, 't  is  your  brother  Cassius  at  the  door,  7o 

Who  doth  desire  to  see  you. 


5  8  JULIUS   CALSAR. 

Brutus.  Is  he  alone  ? 

Lucius.  No,  sir ;  there  are  moe  with  him. 

Brutus.  Do  you  know  them  ? 

Lucius.  No,  sir;  their  hats  are  pluck'd  about  their  ears, 
And  half  their  faces  buried  in  their  cloaks, 
That  by  no  means  I  may  discover  them 
By  any  mark  of  favour. 

Brutus.  Let  'em  enter.  [Exit  Lucius. 

They  are  the  faction.     O  Conspiracy  ! 
Sham'st  thou  to  show  thy  dangerous  brow  by  night, 
When  evils  are  most  free  ?     O,  then,  by  day 
Where  wilt  thou  find  a  cavern  dark  enough  80 

To  mask  thy  monstrous  visage?     Seek  none,  Conspiracy; 
Hide  it  in  smiles  and  affability; 
For,  if  thou  path,  thy  native  semblance  on, 
Not  Erebus  itself  were  dim  enough 
To  hide  thee  from  prevention. 

Enter  Cassius,  Casca,  Decius,  Cinna,  Metellus  Cimber, 
and  Trebonius. 

Cassius.  I  think  we  are  too  bold  upon  your  rest: 
Good  morrow,  Brutus  ;  do  we  trouble  you  ? 

Brutus.  I  have  been  up  this  hour,  awake  all  night. 
Know  I  these  men  that  come  along  with  you  ? 

Cassius.  Yes,  every  man  of  them  ;  and  no  man  here        90 
But  honours  you  ;  and  every  one  doth  wish 
You  had  but  that  opinion  of  yourself 
Which  every  noble  Roman  bears  of  you. 
This  is  Trebonius. 

Brutus.  He  is  welcome  hither. 

Cassius.  This,  Decius  Brutus. 

Brutus.  He  is  welcome  too. 

Cassius.  This,  Casca  ;  this,  Cinna;  and  this.  Metellus  Cim- 
ber. 

Brutus.  They  are  all  welcome. — 


ACT  II.     SCENE  L  59 

What  watchful  cares  do  interpose  themselves 

Betwixt  your  eyes  and  night?  99 

Cassius.  Shall  I  entreat  a  word?  \They  whisper. 

Decius.  Here  lies  the  east ;  doth  not  the  day  break  here  ? 

Casca.  No. 

Cinna.  O,  pardon,  sir,  it  doth,  and  yon  grey  lines 
That  fret  the  clouds  are  messengers  of  day. 

Casca.  You  shall  confess  that  you  are  both  deceiv'd. 
Here,  as  I  point  my  sword,  the  sun  arises  ; 
Which  is  a  great  way  growing  on  the  south, 
Weighing  the  youthful  season  of  the  year. 
Some  two  months  hence  up  higher  toward  the  north 
He  first  presents  his  fire,  and  the  high  east  no 

Stands  as  the  Capitol,  directly  here. 

Brutus.  Give  me  your  hands  all  over,  one  by  one. 

Cassius.  And  let  us  swear  our  resolution. 

Brutus.  No,  not  an  oath  !     If  not  the  face  of  men, 
The  sufferance  of  our  souls,  the  time's  abuse, — 
If  these  be  motives  weak,  break  off  betimes, 
And  every  man  hence  to  his  idle  bed; 
So  let  high-sighted  tyranny  range  on, 
Till  each  man  drop  by  lottery.     But  if  these, 
I  As  I  am  sure  they  do,  bear  fire  enough  120 

To  kindle  cowards,  and  to  steel  with  valour 
The  melting  spirits  of  women,  then,  countrymen, 
What  need  we  any  spur  but  our  own  cause 
To  prick  us  to  redress?  what  other  bond 
Than  secret  Romans  that  have  spoke  the  word, 
And  will  not  palter?  and  what  other  oath 
Than  honesty  to  honesty  engag'd 
That  this  shall  be,  or  we  will  fall  for  it? 
Swear  priests  and  cowards  and  men  cautelous, 
Old  feeble  carrions  and  such  suffering  souls  130 

That  welcome  wrongs ;  unto  bad  causes  swear 
Such  creatures  as  men  doubt:  but  do  not  stain 


60  JULIUS   C&SAR. 

The  even  virtue  of  our  enterprise, 

Nor  the  insuppressive  metal  of  our  spirits, 

To  think  that  or  our  cause  or  our  performance 

Did  need  an  oath,  when  every  drop  of  blood, 

That  every  Roman  bears,  and  nobly  bears, 

Is  guilty  of  a  several  bastardy 

If  he  do  break  the  smallest  particle 

Of  any  promise  that  hath  pass'd  from  him.  mo 

Cassius.  But  what  of  Cicero?     Shall  we  sound  him  ? 
I  think  he  will  stand  very  strong  with  us. 

Casca.  Let  us  not  leave  him  out. 

Cinna.  No,  by  no  means. 

Mete//us..O,  let  us  have  him,  for  his  silver  hairs 
Will  purchase  us  a  good  opinion, 
And  buy  men's  voices  to  commend  our  deeds. 
It  shall  be  said,  his  judgment  rul'd  our  hands  ; 
Our  youths  and  wildness  shall  no  whit  appear, 
But  all  be  buried  in  his  gravity. 

Brutus.  O,  name  him  not ;  let  us  not  break  with  him,    15° 
For  he  will  never  follow  any  thing 
That  other  men  begin. 

Cassius.  Then  leave  him  out. 

Casca.  Indeed,  he  is  not  fit. 

Decius.  Shall  no  man  else  be  touch'd  but  only  CaesaT? 

Cassius.  Decius,  well  urg'd. — I  think  it  is  not  meet 
Mark  Antony,  so  well  belov'd  of  Caesar, 
Should  outlive  Caesar.     We  shall  find  of  him 
A  shrewd  contriver,  and  you  know  his  means, 
If  he  improve  them,  may  well  stretch  so  far 
As  to  annoy  us  all;  which  to  prevent, 
Let  Antony  and  Caesar  fall  together. 

Brutus.  Our  course  will  seem  too  bloody,  Caius  Cassius, 
To  cut  the  head  off  and  then  hack  the  limbs, 
Like  wrath  in  death,  and  envy  afterwards; 
For  Antony  is  but  a  limb  of  Caesar. 


at 


ACT  II.     SCENE  I. 


Let  us  be  sacrifices,  but  not  butchers,  Caius. 
We  all  stand  up  against  the  spirit  of  Caesar, 
And  in  the  spirit  of  men  there  is  no  blood  j 
O,  that  we  then  could  come  by  Caesar's  spirit, 
And  not  dismember  Caesar  !     But,  alas,  170 

Caesar  must  bleed  for  it !     And,  gentle  friends, 
Let  's  kill  him  boldly,  but  not  wrathfully ; 
Let 's  carve  him  as  a  dish  fit  for  the  gods, 
Not  hew  him  as  a  carcass  fit  for  hounds : 
And  let  our  hearts,  as  subtle  masters  do, 
Stir  up  their  servants  to  an  act  of  rage, 
M*  And  after  seem  to  chide  'em.     This  shall  make 
•^  Our  purpose  necessary  and  not  envious ; 
«    Which  so  appearing  to  the  common  eyes, 
We  shall  be  call'd  purgers,  not  murtherers.  180 

And  for  Mark  Antony,  think  not  of  him  ; 
For  he  can  do  no  more  than  Caesar's  arm 
When  Caesar's  head  is  off. 

Cassius.  Yet  I  fear  him, 

For  in  the  ingrafted  love  he  bears  to  Caesar — 

Brutus.  Alas,  good  Cassius,  do  not  think  of  him  : 
If  he  love  Caesar,  all  that  he  can  do 
Is  to  himself, — take  thought  and  die  for  Caesar ; 
And  that  were  much  he  should,  for  he  is  given 
To  sports,  to  wildness,  and  much  company. 

Trebonius.  There  is  no  fear  in  him  ;  let  him  not  die ;      190 
For  he  will  live  and  laugh  at  this  hereafter.        [Clock  strikes. 

Brutus.  Peace !  count  the  clock. 

Cassius.  The  clock  hath  stricken  three. 

Trebonius.  'T  is  time  to  part. 

Cassius.  But  it  is  doubtful  yet 

Whether  Caesar  will  come  forth  to-day  or  no ; 
For  he  is  superstitious  grown  of  late, 
Quite  from  the  main  opinion  he  held  once 
Of  fantasy,  of  dreams,  and  ceremonies. 


62  JULIUS  CAiSAR. 

It  may  be,  these  apparent  prodigies, 

The  unaccustom'd  terror  of  this  night, 

And  the  persuasion  of  his  augurers  200 

May  hold  him  from  the  Capitol  to-day. 

Decius.  Never  fear  that.     If  he  be  so  resolv'd, 
I  can  o'ersway  him  j  for  he  loves  to  hear 
That  unicorns  may  be  betray 'd  with  trees, 
And  bears  with  glasses,  elephants  with  holes, 
Lions  with  toils,  and  men  with  flatterers :  * 
But,  when  I  tell  him  he  hates  flatterers, 
He  says  he  does,  being  then  most  flattered. 
Let  me  work ; 

For  I  can  give  his  humour  the  true  bent,  2x0 

And  I  will  bring  him  to  the  Capitol. 

Cassius.  Nay,  we  will  all  of  us  be  there  to  fetch  him. 

Brutus.  By  the  eighth  hour  \  is  that  the  uttermost  ? 

Cinna.  Be  that  the  uttermost,  and  fail  not  then. 

Metdlus.  Caius  Ligarius  doth  bear  Caesar  hard, 
Who  rated  him  for  speaking  well  of  Pompey; 
I  wonder  none  of  you  have  thought  of  him. 

Brutus.  Now,  good  Metellus,  go  along  by  him  : 
He  loves  me  well,  and  I  have  given  him  reasons ; 
Send  him  but  hither,  and  I  '11  fashion  him.  220 

Cassius.  The  morning  comes  upon  's ;  we  '11  leave  you, 
Brutus. — 
And,  friends,  disperse  yourselves  ;  but  all  remember 
What  you  have  said,  and  show  yourselves  true  Romans. 

Brutus.  Good  gentlemen,  look  fresh  and  merrily. 
Let  not  our  looks  put  on  our  purposes ; 
But  bear  it  as  our  Roman  actors  do, 
With  untir'd  spirits  and  formal  constancy: 
And  so,  good  morrow  to  you  every  one. — 

[Exeunt  all  but  Brutus. 
Boy !  Lucius  ! — Fast  asleep  ?     It  is  no  matter  ; 
Enjoy  the  honey-heavy  dew  of  slumber  :  230 


ACT  II.     SCENE  I.  6$ 

Thou  hast  no  figures,  nor  no  fantasies, 
AVhich  busy  care  draws  in  the  brains  of  men  ; 
Therefore  thou  sleep'st  so  sound. 

Enter  Portia. 

Portia.  Brutus,  my  lord ! 

Brutus.   Portia,  what  mean  you?   Wherefore  rise  you  now? 
It  is  not  for  your  health  thus  to  commit 
Your  weak  condition  to  the  raw  cold  morning. 

Portia.  Nor  for  yours  neither.     You  've  ungently,  Brutus, 
Stole  from  my  bed  ;  and  yesternight,  at  supper, 
You  suddenly  arose  and  walk'd  about, 

Musing  and  sighing,  with  your  arms  across  ;  240 

And,  when  I  ask'd  you  what  the  matter  was, 
You  star'd  upon  me  with  ungentle  looks. 
I  urg'd  you  further  •  then  you  scratch'd  your  head, 
And  too  impatiently  stamp'd  with  your  foot. 
Yet  I  insisted,  yet  you  answer'd  not, 
But  with  an  angry  wafture  of  your  hand 
Gave  sign  for  me  to  leave  you.     So  I  did; 
Fearing  to  strengthen  that  impatience 
Which  seemed  too  much  enkindled,  and  withal 
Hoping  it  was  but  an  effect  of  humour,  250 

Which  sometime  hath  his  hour  with  every  man. 
It  will  not  let  you  eat,  nor  talk,  nor  sleep, 
And,  could  it  work  so  much  upon  your  shape 
As  it  hath  much  prevail'd  on  your  condition, 
I  should  not  know  you,  Brutus.     Dear  my  lord, 
Make  me  acquainted  with  your  cause  of  grief. 

Brutus.  I  am  not  well  in  health,  and  that  is  all. 

Portia.  Brutus  is  wise,  and,  were  he  not  in  health, 
He  would  embrace  the  means  to  come  by  it. 

Brutus.  Why,  so  I  do. — Good  Portia,  go  to  bed.  »&> 

Portia.  Is  Brutus  sick  ?  and  is  it  physical 
To  walk  unbraced  and  suck  up  the  humours 


64  JULIUS   CJESAR. 

Of  the  dank  morning?     What!  is  Brutus  sick, 

And  will  he  steal  out  of  his  wholesome  bed, 

To  dare  the  vile  contagion  of  the  night, 

And  tempt  the  rheumy  and  unpurged  air 

To  add  unto  his  sickness?     No,  my  Brutus; 

You  have  some  sick  offence  within  your  mind, 

Which  by  the  right  and  virtue  of  my  place 

1  ought  to  know  of:  and,  upon  my  knees,  270 

I  charm  you,  by  my  once  commended  beauty, 

By  all  your  vows  of  love  and  that  great  vow, 

Which  did  incorporate  and  make  us  one, 

That  you  unfold  to  me,  yourself,  your  half, 

Why  you  are  heavy,  and  what  men  to-night 

Have  had  resort  to  you  ;  for  here  have  been 

Some  six  or  seven,  who  did  hide  their  faces 

Even  from  darkness. 

\  Brutus.  Kneel  not,  gentle  Portia. 

^Portia.  I  should  not  need,  if  you  were  gentle  Brutus. 
Within  the  bond  of  marriage,  tell  me,  Brutus,  280 

Is  it  excepted  I  should  know  no  secrets 
That  appertain  to  you?     Am  I  yourself 
But,  as  it  were,  in  sort  or  limitation, 
To  keep  with  you  at  meals,  comfort  your  bed, 
And  talk  to  you  sometimes  ?     Dwell  I  but  in  the  suburbs 
Of  your  good  pleasure  ?     If  it  be  no  more, 
Portia  is  Brutus'  harlot,  not  his  wife. 

Brutus.  You  are  my  true  and  honourable  wife, 
As  dear  to  me  as  are  the  ruddy  drops 
That  visit  my  sad  heart.  29c 

Portia.  If  this  were  true,  then  should  I  know  this  secret. 
I  grant  I  am  a  woman,  but  withal 
A  woman  that  Lord  Brutus  took  to  wife; 
I  grant  I  am  a  woman,  but  withal 
A  woman  well  reputed,  Cato's  daughter. 
Think  you  I  am  no  stronger  than  my  sex, 


ACT  II.     SCENE  I.  65 

Being  so  father'd  and  so  husbanded  ? 

Tell  me  your  counsels,  I  will  not  disclose  'em  : 

I  have  made  strong  proof  of  my  constancy, 

Giving  myself  a  voluntary  wound  300 

Here  in  the  thigh  j  can  I  bear  that  with  patience, 

And  not  my  husband's  secrets? 

Brutus.  O  ye  gods, 

Render  me  worthy  of  this  noble  wife  ! —      [Knocking  within. 
Hark,  hark  !  one  knocks.     Portia,  go  in  a  while  ; 
And  by  and  by  thy  bosom  shall  partake 
The  secrets  of  my  heart. 
All  my  engagements  I  will  construe  to  thee, 
All  the  charactery  of  my  sad  brows. 
Leave  me  with  haste. —  [Exit  Portia. 

Enter  Lucius  and  Ligarius. 

Lucius,  who  's  that  knocks  ? 

Lucius.  Here  is  a  sick  man  that  would  speak  with  you.  310 

Brutus.  Caius  Ligarius,  that  Metellus  spake  of. — 
Boy,  stand  aside. — Caius  Ligarius  1  how  ? 

Ligarius.  Vouchsafe  good  morrow  from  a  feeble  tongue. 

Brutus.  O,  what  a  time  have  you  chose  out,  brave  Caius, 
To  wear  a  kerchief !     Would  you  were  not  sick  ! 

Ligarius.  I  am  not  sick,  if  Brutus  have  in  hand 
Any  exploit  worthy  the  name  of  honour. 

Brutus.  Such  an  exploit  have  I  in  hand,  Ligarius, 
Had  you  a  healthful  ear  to  hear  of  it. 

Ligarius.  By  all  the  gods  that  Romans  bow  before,        320 
I  here  discard  my  sickness.     Soul  of  Rome  ! 
Brave  son,  deriv'd  from  honourable  loins  1 
Thou,  like  an  exorcist,  hast  conjur'd  up 
My  mortified  spirit.     Now  bid  me  run, 
And  I  will  strive  with  things  impossible, 
Yea,  get  the  better  of  them.     What 's  to  do  ? 

Brutus.  A  piece  of  work  that  will  make  sick  men  whole. 

E 


66  JULIUS   CMSAR. 

Ligarius.  But  are  not  some  whole  that  we  must  make  sick? 

Brutus.  That  must  we  also.     What  it  is,  my  Caius, 
I  shall  unfold  to  thee,  as  we  are  going  33o 

To  whom  it  must  be  done. 

Ligarius.  Set  on  your  foot, 

And  with  a  heart  new-fir'd  I  follow  you, 
To  do  I  know  not  what ;  but  it  sufficeth 
That  Brutus  leads  me  on. 

Brutus.  Follow  me,  then.  [Exeunt. 

Scene  II.     A  Room  in  Cesar's  Palace. 

Thunder  and  lightning.     Enter  Caesar  in  his  night-gown. 

Ccesar.  Nor  heaven  nor  earth  have  been  at  peace  to-night ; 
Thrice  hath  Calpurnia  in  her  sleep  cried  out, 
1  Help,  ho !  they  murther  Caesar !' — Who  's  within  ? 

Enter  a  Servant. 
Servant.  My  lord  ? 

Ccesar.  Go  bid  the  priests  do  present  sacrifice, 
And  bring  me  their  opinions  of  success. 

Servant.  I  will,  my  lord.  [Exit. 

Enter  Calpurnia. 

Calpurnia.  What  mean  you,  Caesar?     Think  you  to  walk 
forth  ?. 
You  shall  not  stir  out  of  your  house  to-day. 

Ccesar.  Caesar  shall  forth.     The  things  that  threaten'd  me 
Ne'er  look'd  but  on  my  back ;  when  they  shall  see  n 

The  face  of  Cajsar,  they  are  vanished. 

Calpurnia.  Caesar,  I  never  stood  on  ceremonies, 
Yet  now  they  fright  me.     There  is  one  within, 
Besides  the  things  that  we  have  heard  and  seen, 
Recounts  most  horrid  sights  seen  by  the  watch. 
A  lioness  hath  whelped  in  the  streets ; 


ACT  II.    SCENE  II  67 

And  graves  have  yawn'd  and  yielded  up  their  dead ; 

Fierce  fiery  warriors  fought  upon  the  clouds, 

In  ranks  and  squadrons  and  right  form  of  war,  20 

Which  drizzled  blood  upon  the  Capitol ; 

The  noise  of  battle  hurtled  in  the  air, 

Horses  did  neigh  and  dying  men  did  groan, 

And  ghosts  did  shriek  and  squeal  about  the  streets. 

O  Caesar !  these  things  are  beyond  all  use, 

And  I  do  fear  them. 

Ccesar.  What  can  be  avoided, 

Whose  end  is  purpos'd  by  the  mighty  gods  ? 
Yet  Caesar  shall  go  forth  ;  for  these  predictions 
Are  to  the  world  in  general  as  to  Caesar. 

Calpumia.  When  beggars  die,  there  are  no  comets  seen  ; 
The  heavens  themselves  blaze  forth  the  death  of  princes.    31 

Ccesar.  Cowards  die  many  times  before  their  deaths; 
The  valiant  never  taste  of  death  but  once. 
Of  all  the  wonders  that  I  yet  have  heard, 
It  seems  to  me  most  strange  that  men  should  fear, 
Seeing  that  death,  a  necessary  end, 
Will  come  when  it  will  come. — 

Enter  a  Servant. 

What  say  the  augurers  ? 

Servant.  They  would  not  have  you  to  stir  forth  to-day. 
Plucking  the  entrails  of  an  offering  forth, 
They  could  not  find  a  heart  within  the  beast.  40 

Ccesar.  The  gods  do  this  in  shame  of  cowardice ; 
Caesar  should  be  a  beast  without  a  heart, 
If  he  should  stay  at  home  to  day  for  fear. 
No,  Caesar  shall  not.     Danger  knows  full  well 
That  Caesar  is  more  dangerous  than  he. 
We  are  two  lions  litter'd  in  one  day, 
And  I  the  elder  and  more  terrible; 
And  Caesar  shall  go  forth. 


68  JULIUS   CjESAR. 

Calpumia.  Alas  !  my  lord, 

Your  wisdom  is  consum'd  in  confidence. 
Do  not  go  forth  to-day.     Call  it  my  fear  50 

That  keeps  you  in  the  house,  and  not  your  own. 
We  '11  send  Mark  Antony  to  the  senate-house, 
And  he  shall  say  you  are  not  well  to-day; 
Let  me,  upon  my  knee,  prevail  in  this. 

Ccesar.  Mark  Antony  shall  say  I  am  not  well, 
And,  for  thy  humour,  I  will  stay  at  home. 

Enter  Decius. 
Here  's  Decius  Brutus,  he  shall  tell  them  so. 

Decius.  Caesar,  all  hail !     Good  morrow,  worthy  Caesar  ; 
I  come  to  fetch  you  to  the  senate-house. 

Ccesar.  And  you  are  come  in  very  happy  time  60 

To  bear  my  greeting  to  the  senators, 
And  tell  them  that  I  will  not  come  to-day. 
Cannot  is  false  ;  and  that  I  dare  not,  falser ; 
I  will  not  come  to-day.     Tell  them  so,  Decius. 

Calpumia.   Say,  he  is  sick. 

Ccesar.  Shall  Caesar  send  a  lie  ? 

Have  I  in  conquest  stretch'd  mine  arm  so  far, 
To  be  afeard  to  tell  greybeards  the  truth  ? — 
Decius,  go  tell  them  Caesar  will  not  come. 

Decius.  Most  mighty  Caesar,  let  me  know  some  cause, 
Lest  I  be  laugh'd  at  when  I  tell  them  so.  70 

Ccesar.  The  cause  is  in  my  will ;  I  will  not  come : 
That  is  enough  to  satisfy  the  senate. 
But,  for  your  private  satisfaction, 
Because  I  love  you,  I  will  let  you  know. 
Calpumia  here,  my  wife,  stays  me  at  home. 
She  dream'd  to-night  she  saw  my  statua, 
Which,  like  a  fountain  with  an  hundred  spouts, 
Did  run  pure  blood,  and  many  lusty  Romans 
Came  smiling  and  did  bathe  their  hands  in  it ; 


ACT  II     SCENE  II  69 

And  these  does  she  apply  for  warnings  and  portents  80 

And  evils  imminent,  and  on  her  knee 

Hath  begg'd  that  I  will  stay  at  home  to-day. 

Decius.  This  dream  is  all  amiss  interpreted; 
It  was  a  vision  fair  and  fortunate. 
Your  statue  spouting  blood  in  many  pipes, 
In  which  so  many  smiling  Romans  bath'd, 
Signifies  that  from  you  great  Rome  shall  suck 
Reviving  blood,  and  that  great  men  shall  press 
For  tinctures,  stains,  relics,  and  cognizance. 
This  by  Calpurnia's  dream  is  signified.  90 

Ccesar.  And  this  way  have  you  well  expounded  it. 

Decius.  I  have,  when  you  have  heard  what  I  can  say ; 
And  know  it  now.     The  senate  have  concluded 
To  give  this  day  a  crown  to  mighty  Caesar. 
If  you  shall  send  them  word  you  will  not  come, 
Their  minds  may  change.     Besides,  it  were  a  mock 
Apt  to  be  render'd,  for  some  one  to  say, 
'Break  up  the  senate  till  another  time, 
When  Caesar's  wife  shall  meet  with  better  dreams.' 
If  Caesar  hide  himself,  shall  they  not  whisper,  100 

'  Lo,  Caesar  is  afraid'  ? 
Pardon  me,  Caesar,  for  my  dear,  dear  love 
To  your  proceeding  bids  me  tell  you  this, 
And  reason  to  my  love  is  liable. 

Ccesar.  How  foolish  do  your  fears  seem  now,  Calpurnia ! 
I  am  ashamed  I  did  yield  to  them. — 
Give  me  my  robe,  for  I  will  go. — 

Enter  Publius,  Brutus,  Ligarius,  Metellus,  Casca, 
Trebonius,  and  Cinna. 

And  look  where  Publius  is  come  to  fetch  me. 

Publius.  Good  morrow,  Caesar. 

Ccesar.  Welcome,  Publius. — 

What,  Brutus,  are  you  stirr'd  so  early  too? —  no 


7o  JULIUS  CAlSAR. 

Good  morrow,  Casca. — Caius  Ligarius, 
Caesar  was  ne'er  so  much  your  enemy 
As  that  same  ague  which  hath  made  you  lean. — 
What  is  't  o'clock  ? 

Brutus.  Caesar,  't  is  strucken  eight. 

Ccesar.  I  thank  you  for  your  pains  and  courtesy. 

Enter  Antony. 

See  !  Antony,  that  revels  long  o'  nights, 

Is  notwithstanding  up. — Good  morrow,  Antony. 

Antony.  So  to  most  noble  Caesar. 

Ccesar.  Bid  them  prepare  within. — 

I  am  to  blame  to  be  thus  waited  for. — 
Now,  Cinna. — Now,  Metellus. — What,  Trebonius !  120 

I  have  an  hour's  talk  in  store  for  you. 
Remember  that  you  call  on  me  to-day ; 
Be  near  me,  that  I  may  remember  you. 

Trebonius.  Caesar,  I  will. — [Aside]  And  so  near  will  I  be 
That  your  best  friends  shall  wish  I  had  been  further. 

Ccesar.  Good  friends, go  in,  and  taste  some  wine  with  me;. 
And  we,  like  friends,  will  straightway  go  together. 

Brutus.  [Aside]  That  every  like  is  not  the  same,  O  Caesar, 
The  heart  of  Brutus  yearns  to  think  upon  !  [Exeunt. 

Scene  III.    A  Street  near  the  Capitol. 
Enter  Artemidorus,  reading  a  Paper. 

Artemidorus.  Ccesar,  beware  of  Brutus  ;  take  heed  of  Cas~ 
sius ;  come  not  near  Casca ;  have  an  eye  to  Cinna ;  trust  not 
Trebonius ;  mark  well  Metellus  Cimber  ;  Decius  Brutus  loves 
thee  not ;  thou  hast  wrong' d  Caius  Ligarius.  There  is  but 
one  mind  in  all  these  men,  and  it  is  bent  against  Casar.  If 
thou  beest  not  immortal,  look  about  you ;  security  gives  way 
to  conspiracy.     The  mighty  gods  defend  thee  !     Thy  I, 

Artemidorus. 


ACT  II.     SCENE  IV.  7I 

Here  will  I  stand  till  Caesar  pass  along, 

And  as  a  suitor  will  I  give  him  this.  »o 

My  heart  laments  that  virtue  cannot  live 

Out  of  the  teeth  of  emulation. 

If  thou  read  this,  O  Caesar,  thou  mayst  live  j 

If  not,  the  fates  with  traitors  do  contrive.  [Exit. 

Scene  IV.     Another  Part  of  the  same  Street,  before  the  House 
of  Brutus. 

Enter  Portia  and  Lucius. 

Portia.  I  prithee,  boy,  run  to  the  senate-house; 
Stay  not  to  answer  me,  but  get  thee  gone. 
Why  dost  thou  stay? 

Lucius.  To  know  my  errand,  madam. 

Portia.  I  would  have  had  thee  there,  and  here  again, 
Ere  I  can  tell  thee  what  thou  shouldst  do  there. — 

0  constancy,  be  strong  upon  my  side  ! 

Set  a  huge  mountain  'tween  my  heart  and  tongue  ! 

1  have  a  man's  mind,  but  a  woman's  might. 
How  hard  it  is  for  women  to  keep  counsel! — 
Art  thou  here  yet  ? 

Lucius.  Madam,  what  should  I  do?  10 

Run  to  the  Capitol,  and  nothing  else? 
And  so  return  to  you,  and  nothing  else? 

Portia.  Yes,  bring  me  word,  boy,  if  thy  lord  look  well, 
For  he  went  sickly  forth ;  and  take  good  note 
What  Caesar  doth,  what  suitors  press  to  him. 
Hark,  boy  !  what  noise  is  that? 

Lucius.  I  hear  none,  madam. 

Portia.  Prithee,  listen  well ; 

I  heard  a  bustling  rumour  like  a  fray, 
And  the  wind  brings  it  from  the  Capitol. 

Lucius.  Sooth,  madam,  I  hear  nothing.  2c 


72  JULIUS   C&SAR. 

Enter  the  Soothsayer. 

Portia.  Come  hither,  fellow.     Which  way  hast  thou  been  ? 

Soothsayer.  At  mine  own  house,  good  lady. 

Portia.  What  is  't  o'clock  ? 

Soothsayer.  About  the  ninth  hour,  lady. 

Portia.  Is  Caesar  yet  gone  to  the  Capitol  ? 

Soothsayer.  Madam,  not  yet ;  I  go  to  take  my  stand, 
To  see  him  pass  on  to  the  Capitol. 

Portia.  Thou  hast  some  suit  to  Caesar,  hast  thou  not  ? 

Soothsayer.  That  I  have,  lady  ;  if  it  will  please  Caesar 
To  be  so  good  to  Caesar  as  to  hear  me, 
I  shall  beseech  him  to  befriend  himself.  30 

Portia.  Why,  know'st  thou  any  harm  's  intended  towards 
him  ? 

Soothsayer.  None  that  I  know  will  be,  much  that  I  fear 
may  chance. 
Good  morrow  to  you. — Here  the  street  is  narrow ; 
The  throng  that  follows  Caesar  at  the  heels, 
Of  senators,  of  praetors,  common  suitors, 
Will  crowd  a  feeble  man  almost  to  death: 
I  Ml  get  me  to  a  place  more  void,  and  there 
Speak  to  great  Caesar  as  he  comes  along. 

Portia.  I  must  go  in. — Ay  me,  how  weak  a  thing 
The  heart  of  woman  is  !     O  Brutus,  40 

The  heavens  speed  thee  in  thine  enterprise ! — 
Sure,  the  boy  heard  me. — Brutus  hath  a  suit, 
That  Caesar  will  not  grant. — O,  I  grow  faint ! — 
Run,  Lucius,  and  commend  me  to  my  lord ; 
Say  I  am  merry :  come  to  me  again, 
And  bring  me  word  what  he  doth  say  to  thee.  [Exeunt. 


ACT  III. 
Scene  I.     The  Capitol;  the  Senate  sitting. 

A  crowd  of  People  in  the  Street  leading  to  the  Capitol ;  among 
them  Artemidorus  and  the  Soothsayer.  Flourish.  Enter 
Caesar,  Brutus,  Cassius,  Casca,  Decius,  Met ellus,  Tre- 
bonius,  Cinna,  Antony,  Lepidus,  Popilius,  Publius,  and 
others. 
Ccesar.  The  ides  of  March  are  come. 


74  JULIUS  CsESAR. 

Soothsayer.  Ay,  Caesar  j  but  not  gone. 

Artemidorus.  Hail,  Caesar  !     Read  this  schedule. 

Decius.  Trebonius  doth  desire  you  to  o'er-read, 
At  your  best  leisure,  this  his  humble  suit. 

Arte?nidorus.  O,  Caesar,  read  mine  first ;  for  mine  's  a  suit 
That  touches  Caesar  nearer.     Read  it,  great  Caesar. 

Ccesar.  What  touches  us  ourself  shall  be  last  serv'd. 

Artemidorus.  Delay  not,  Caesar ;  read  it  instantly. 

Ccesar.  What !  is  the  fellow  mad  ? 

Publius.  Sirrah,  give  place.      10 

Cassius.  What !  urge  you  your  petitions  in  the  street  ? 
Come  to  the  Capitol. 

Ccesar  enters  the  Capitol,  the  rest  following.     All  the 
Senators  rise. 

Popilius.  I  wish  your  enterprise  to-day  may  thrive. 

Cassius.  What  enterprise,  Popilius  ? 

Popilius.  Fare  you  well.  ^Advances  to  Ccesar. 

Brutus.  What  said  Popilius  Lena  ? 

Cassius.  He  wish'd  to-day  our  enterprise  might  thrive. 
I  fear  our  purpose  is  discovered. 

Brutus.  Look,  how  he  makes  to  Caesar;  mark  him. 

Cassius.  Casca,  be  sudden,  for  we  fear  prevention. —        20 
Brutus,  what  shall  be  done  ?     If  this  be  known, 
Cassius  or  Caesar  never  shall  turn  back, 
For  I  will  slay  myself. 

Brutus.  Cassius,  be  constant : 

Popilius  Lena  speaks  not  of  our  purposes  ; 
For,  look,  he  smiles,  and  Caesar  doth  not  change. 

Cassius.  Trebonius  knows  his  time  ;  for,  look  you,  Brutus, 
He  draws  Mark  Antony  out  of  the  way. 

\Exeiint  Antony  and  Trebonius.     Ccesar  and  the  Sena- 
tors take  their  seats. 

Decius.  Where  is  Metellus  Cimber?     Let  him  go 
And  presently  prefer  his  suit  to  Caesar. 


ACT  III.    SCENE  I.  75 

Brutus.  He  is  address'd  \  press  near  and  second  him. 

Cintia.  Casca,  you  are  the  first  that  rears  your  hand.       3° 

Casca.  Are  we  all  ready  ? 

Ccesar.  What  is  now  amiss 

That  Caesar  and  his  senate  must  redress? 

Metellus.  Most  high,  most  mighty,  and  most  puissant  Caesar, 
Metellus  Cimber  throws  before  thy  seat 
An  humble  heart. —  [Kneeling. 

Ccesar.  I  must  prevent  thee,  Cimber. 

These  couchings  and  these  lowly  courtesies 
Might  fire  the  blood  of  ordinary  men, 
And  turn  pre-ordinance  and  first  decree 
Into  the  law  of  children.     Be  not  fond, 

To  think  that  Caesar  bears  such  rebel  blood  4° 

That  will  be  thaw'd  from  the  true  quality 
With  that  which  melteth  fools, — I  mean  sweet  words, 
Low-crooked  curtsies,  and  base  spaniel  fawning. 
Thy  brother  by  decree  is  banished  ; 
If  thou  dost  bend  and  pray  and  fawn  for  him, 
I  spurn  thee  like  a  cur  out  of  my  way. 
Know,  Caesar  doth  not  wrong,  nor  without  cause 
Will  he  be  satisfied. 

Metellus.  Is  there  no  voice  more  worthy  than  my  own, 
To  sound  more  sweetly  in  great  Caesar's  ear  50 

For  the  repealing  of  my  banish'd  brother? 

Brutus.  I  kiss  thy  hand,  but  not  in  flattery,  Caesar, 
Desiring  thee  that  Publius  Cimber  may 
Have  an  immediate  freedom  of  repeal. 

Ccesar.  What,  Brutus ! 

Cassius.  Pardon,  Cassar ;  Caesar,  pardon  : 

As  low  as  to  thy  foot  doth  Cassius  fall, 
To  beg  enfranchisement  for  Publius  Cimber. 

Ccesar.  I  could  be  well  mov'd,  if  I  were  as  you  ; 
If  I  could  pray  to  move,  prayers  would  move  me ; 
But  I  am  constant  as  the  northern  star,  60 


76  JULIUS  C&SAR. 

Of  whose  true-fix'd  and  resting  quality 

There  is  no  fellow  in  the  firmament. 

The  skies  are  painted  with  unnumber'd  sparks; 

They  are  all  fire,  and  every  one  doth  shine ; 

But  there  's  but  one  in  all  doth  hold  his  place. 

So,  in  the  world  ;  't  is  furnish'd  well  with  men, 

And  men  are  flesh  and  blood,  and  apprehensive ; 

Yet,  in  the  number,  I  do  know  but  one 

That  unassailable  holds  on  his  rank, 

Unshak'd  of  motion  :  and  that  I  am  he,  70 

Let  me  a  little  show  it,  even  in  this, — 

That  I  was  constant  Cimber  should  be  banish'd, 

And  constant  do  remain  to  keep  him  so. 

Cinna.  O  Caesar  ! — 

Ccesar.  Hence  !  wilt  thou  lift  up  Olympus  ? 

Decius.  Great  Caesar, — 

Ccesar.  Doth  not  Brutus  bootless  kneel  ? 

Casca.   Speak,  hands,  for  me. 

[Casca  stabs  Ccesar  in  the  neck.  Ccesar  catches  hold  of 
his  arm.  He  is  then  stabbed  by  several  other  Con- 
spirators, and  at  last  by  Mar  ens  Brutus. 

Ccesar.  Et  tu,  Brute  !— Then,  fall,  Caesar. 

[Dies.     The  Senators  and  People  retire  in  confusion. 

Cinna.  Liberty  !  Freedom  !  Tyranny  is  dead  ! — 
Run  hence,  proclaim,  cry  it  about  the  streets. 

Cassius.  Some  to  the  common  pulpits,  and  cry  out,  80 

1  Liberty,  freedom,  and  enfranchisement !' 

Brutus.  People,  and  senators  !  be  not  affrighted  \ 
Fly  not ;  stand  still : — ambition's  debt  is  paid. 

Casca.  Go  to  the  pulpit,  Brutus. 

Decius.  And  Cassius  too. 

Brutus.  Where  's  Publius  ? 

Cinna.  Here,  quite  confounded  with  this  mutiny. 

Metellus.  Stand  fast  together,  lest  some  friend  of  Caesar's 
Should  chance — 


ACT  III.    SCENE  I. 


77 


Brutus.  Talk  not  of  standing. — Publius,  good  cheer  j      90 
There  is  no  harm  intended  to  your  person, 
Nor  to  no  Roman  else :  so  tell  them,  Publius. 

Cassius.  And  leave  us,  Publius  ;  lest  that  the  people 
Rushing  on  us  should  do  your  age  some  mischief. 

Brutus.  Do  so ; — and  let  no  man  abide  this  deed 
But  we  the  doers. 

Enter  Trebonius. 

Cassius.  Where  is  Antony  ? 

Trebonius.  Fled  to  his  house  amaz'd. 
Men,  wives,  and  children  stare,  cry  out,  and  run, 
As  it  were  doomsday. 

Brutus.  Fates  !  we  will  know  your  pleasures  : 

That  we  shall  die,  we  know  ;  't  is  but  the  time,  10 

And  drawing  clays  out,  that  men  stand  upon. 

Casca.  Why,  he  that  cuts  off  twenty  years  of  life 
Cuts  off  so  many  years  of  fearing  death. 

Brutus.  Grant  that,  and  then  is  death  a  benefit ; 
So  are  we  Caesar's  friends,  that  have  abridg'd 
His  time  of  fearing  death. — Stoop,  Romans,  stoop, 
And  let  us  bathe  our  hands  in  Caesar's  blood 
Up  to  the  elbows,  and  besmear  our  swords ; 
Then  walk  we  forth,  even  to  the  market-place, 
And,  waving  our  red  weapons  o'er  our  heads,  no 

Let  's  all  cry,  Peace !  Freedom  !  and  Liberty ! 

Cassius.  Stoop,  then,  and  wash. — How  many  ages  hence 
Shall  this  our  lofty  scene  be  acted  over 
In  states  unborn  and  accents  yet  unknown  ! 

Brutus.  How  many  times  shall  Caesar  bleed  in  sport, 
That  now  on  Pompey's  basis  lies  along 
No  worthier  than  the  dust ! 

Cassius.  So  oft  as  that  shall  be, 

So  often  shall  the  knot  of  us  be  call'd 
The  men  that  gave  their  country  liberty. 


78  JULIUS  C&SAR. 

Decius.  What !  shall  we  forth  ? 

Cassius.  Ay,  every  man  away ;    120 

Brutus  shall  lead,  and  we  will  grace  his  heels 
With  the  most  boldest  and  best  hearts  of  Rome. 

Enter  a  Servant. 

Brutus.  Soft,  who  comes  here  ?     A  friend  of  Antony's. 

Servant.  Thus,  Brutus,  did  my  master  bid  me  kneel ; 
Thus  did  Mark  Antony  bid  me  fall  down  j 
And,  being  prostrate,  thus  he  bade  me  say : 
Brutus  is  noble,  wise,  valiant,  and  honest; 
Caesar  was  mighty,  bold,  royal,  and  loving. 
Say  I  love  Brutus  and  I  honour  him  j 

Say  I  fear'd  Caesar,  honour'd  him,  and  lov'd  him.  t3o 

If  Brutus  will  vouchsafe  that  Antony 
May  safely  come  to  him  and  be  resolv'd 
How  Caesar  hath  deserv'd  to  lie  in  death, 
Mark  Antony  shall  not  love  Caesar  dead 
So  well  as  Brutus  living,  but  will  follow 
The  fortunes  and  affairs  of  noble  Brutus 
Thorough  the  hazards  of  this  untrod  state 
With  all  true  faith.     So  says  my  master  Antony. 

Brutus.  Thy  master  is  a  wise  and  valiant  Roman ; 
I  never  thought  him  worse.  m* 

Tell  him,  so  please  him  come  unto  this  place, 
He  shall  be  satisfied  and,  by  my  honour, 
Depart  untouch'd. 

Servant.  I'll  fetch  him  presently.     [Exit  Scn<ant. 

Brutus.  I  know  that  we  shall  have  him  well  to  friend. 

Cassius.  I  wish  we  may ;  but  yet  have  I  a  mind 
That  fears  him  much,  and  my  misgiving  still 
Falls  shrewdly  to  the  purpose. 


ACT  III.    SCENE  I.  79 

Enter  Antony. 

Brutus.   But  here  comes  Antony. — Welcome,  Mark  An- 
tony. 

Antony.  O  mighty  Cassar!  Dost  thou  lie  so  low? 
Are  all  thy  conquests,  glories,  triumphs,  spoils,  15° 

Shrunk  to  this  little  measure?     Fare  thee  well. — 
I  know  not,  gentlemen,  what  you  intend, 
Who  else  must  be  let  blood,  who  else  is  rank; 
If  I  myself,  there  is  no  hour  so  fit 
As  Csesar's  death's  hour,  nor  no  instrument 
Of  half  that  worth  as  those  your  swords,  made  rich 
With  the  most  noble  blood  of  all  this  world. 
I  do  beseech  ye,  if  you  bear  me  hard, 
Now,  whilst  your  purpled  hands  do  reek  and  smoke, 
Fulfil  your  pleasure.     Live  a  thousand  years,  t6o 

I  shall  not  find  myself  so  apt  to  die ; 
No  place  will  please  me  so,  no  mean  of  death, 
As  here  by  Caesar  and  by  you  cut  off, 
The  choice  and  master  spirits  of  this  age. 

Brutus.  O  Antony  !  beg  not  your  death  of  us. 
Though  now  we  must  appear  bloody  and  cruel, 
As,  by  our  hands  and  this  our  present  act, 
You  see  we  do,  yet  see  you  but  our  hands 
And  this  the  bleeding  business  they  have  done. 
Our  hearts, you  see  not :  they  are  pitiful ;  170 

And  pity  to  the  general  wrong  of  Rome — 
As  fire  drives  out  fire,  so  pity  pity — 
Hath  done  this  deed  on  Csesar.     For  your  part, 
To  you  our  swords  have  leaden  points,  Mark  Antony; 
Our  arms  in  strength  of  malice,  and  our  hearts 
Of  brothers'  temper,  do  receive  you  in, 
With  all  kind  love,  good  thoughts,  and  reverence. 

Cassius.  Your  voice  shall  be  as  strong  as  any  man's, 
In  the  disposing  of  new  dignities. 


80  JULIUS  CAESAR. 

Brutus.  Only  be  patient,  till  we  have  appeas'd  i8o 

The  multitude,  beside  themselves  with  fear, 
And  then  we  will  deliver  you  the  cause 
Why  I,  that  did  love  Caesar  when  I  struck  him, 
Have  thus  proceeded. 

Antony.  I  doubt  not  of  your  wisdom. 

Let  each  man  render  me  his  bloody  hand  : 
First,  Marcus  Brutus,  will  I  shake  with  you  ;— 
Next,  Caius  Cassius,  do  I  take  your  hand  ; — 
Now,  Decius  Brutus,  yours  ; — now  yours,  Metellus  ; — 
Yours,  Cinna ; — and,  my  valiant  Casca,  yours  ; — 
Though  last,  not  least  in  love,  yours,  good  Trebonius.  190 

Gentlemen  all, — alas!  what  shall  I  say? 
My  credit  now  stands  on  such  slippery  ground, 
That  one  of  two  bad  ways  you  must  conceit  me, 
Either  a  coward  or  a  flatterer. — 
That  I  did  love  thee,  Caesar,  O,  't  is  true ! 
If  then  thy  spirit  look  upon  us  now, 
Shall  it  not  grieve  thee  dearer  than  thy  death, 
To  see  thy  Antony  making  his  peace, 
Shaking  the  bloody  fingers  of  thy  foes, 

Most  noble  !  in  the  presence  of  thy  corse  ?  200 

Had  I  as  many  eyes  as  thou  hast  wounds, 
Weeping  as  fast  as  they  stream  forth  thy  blood, 
It  would  become  me  better  than  to  close 
In  terms  of  friendship  with  thine  enemies. 
Pardon  me,  Julius!— Here  wast  thou  bay'd,  brave  hart; 
Here  didst  thou  fall,  and  here  thy  hunters  stand, 
Sign'd  in  thy  spoil  and  crimson'd  in  thy  lethe. 
O  world  !  thou  wast  the  forest  to  this  hart ; 
And  this,  indeed,  O  world,  the  heart  of  thee. — 
How  like  a  deer  strucken  by  many  princes  aio 

Dost  thou  here  lie ! 

Cassius.  Mark  Antony, — 

Antony.   Pardon  me,  Caius  Cassius  : 


ACT  III.    SCENE  I.  8 1 

The  enemies  of  Caesar  shall  say  this  j 
Then,  in  a  friend,  it  is  cold  modesty. 

Cassius.  I  blame  you  not  for  praising  Caesar  so; 
But  what  compact  mean  you  to  have  with  us? 
Will  you  be  prick'd  in  number  of  our  friends  ; 
Or  shall  we  on,  and  not  depend  on  you? 

Antony.  Therefore  I  took  your  hands,  but  was  indeed 
Sway'd  from  the  point,  by  looking  down  on  Caesar.  220 

Friends  am  I  with  you  all  and  love  you  all, 
Upon  this  hope,  that  you  shall  give  me  reasons 
Why  and  wherein  Caesar  was  dangerous. 

Brutus.  Or  else  were  this  a  savage  spectacle. 
Our  reasons  are  so  full  of  good  regard 
That  were  you,  Antony,  the  son  of  Caesar, 
You  should  be  satisfied. 

Antony.  That  *s  all  I  seek  ; 

And  am  moreover  suitor  that  I  may 
Produce  his  body  to  the  market-place, 

And  in  the  pulpit,  as  becomes  a  friend,  230 

Speak  in  the  order  of  his  funeral. 

Brutus.  You  shall,  Mark  Antony. 

Cassius.  Brutus,  a  word  with  you. — 

[Aside]  You  know  not  what  you  do.     Do  not  consent 
That  Antony  speak  in  his  funeral. 
Know  you  how  much  the  people  may  be  mov'd 
By  that  which  he  will  utter  ? 

Brutus.  By  your  pardon  j — 

I  will  myself  into  the  pulpit  first, 
And  show  the  reason  of  our  Caesar's  death ; 
What  Antony  shall  speak,  I  will  protest 
He  speaks  by  leave  and  by  permission,  340 

And  that  we  are  contented  Caesar  shall 
Have  all  true  rites  and  lawful  ceremonies. 
It  shall  advantage  more  than  do  us  wrong. 

Cassius.  I  know  not  what  may  fall ;  I  like  it  not. 

F 


82  JULIUS  CAESAR. 

Brutus.  Mark  Antony,  here,  take  you  Caesar's  body. 
You  shall  not  in  your  funeral  speech  blame  us, 
But  speak  all  good  you  can  devise  of  Caesar, 
And  say  you  do  't  by  our  permission  ; 
Else  shall  you  not  have  any  hand  at  all 
About  his  funeral.     And  you  shall  speak  250 

In  the  same  pulpit  whereto  I  am  going, 
After  my  speech  is  ended. 

Antony.  Be  it  so  ; 

I  do  desire  no  more. 

Brutus.  Prepare  the  body  then,  and  follow  us. 

[Exeunt  all  but  Antony. 

Afitony.  O,  pardon  me,  thou  bleeding  piece  of  earth, 
That  I  am  meek  and  gentle  with  these  butchers! 
Thou  art  the  ruins  of  the  noblest  man 
That  ever  lived  in  the  tide  of  times. 
Woe  to  the  hands  that  shed  this  costly  blood ! 
Over  thy  wounds  now  do  I  prophesy,  260 

Which  like  dumb  mouths  do  ope  their  ruby  lips 
To  beg  the  voice  and  utterance  of  my  tongue  : 
A  curse  shall  light  upon  the  limbs  of  men  ; 
Domestic  fury  and  fierce  civil  strife 
Shall  cumber  all  the  parts  of  Italy  ; 
Blood  and  destruction  shall  be  so  in  use, 
And  dreadful  objects  so  familiar, 
That  mothers  shall  but  smile  when  they  behold 
Their  infants  quarter'd  with  the  hands  of  war, 
All  pity  chok'd  with  custom  of  fell  deeds;  a7o 

And  Caesar's  spirit  ranging  for  revenge, 
With  Ate  by  his  side  come  hot  from  hell, 
Shall  in  these  confines  with  a  monarch's  voice 
Cry  '  Havoc  !'  and  let  slip  the  dogs  of  war  ; 
That  this  foul  deed  shall  smell  above  the  earth 
With  carrion  men  groaning  for  burial. — 


ACT  III     SCENE  II.  83 

Enter  a  Servant. 
You  serve  Octavius  Caesar,  do  you  not  ?    . 

Servant.  I  do,  Mark  Antony. 

Antony.  Caesar  did  write  for  him  to  come  to  Rome. 

Servant.  He  did  receive  his  letters  and  is  coming,  280 

And  bid  me  say  to  you,  by  word  of  mouth— 
O  Caesar ! —  [Seeing  the  body. 

Antofiy.  Thy  heart  is  big ;  get  thee  apart  and  weep. 
Passion,  I  see,  is  catching,  for  mine  eyes, 
Seeing  those  beads  of  sorrow  stand  in  thine, 
Began  to  water.     Is  thy  master  coming? 

Servant.   He  lies  to-night  within  seven  leagues  of  Rome. 

Antony.  Post  back  with   speed,  and   tell  him   what  hath 
chanc'd. 
Here  is  a  mourning  Rome,  a  dangerous  Rome, 
No  Rome  of  safety  for  Octavius  yet ;  290 

Hie  hence,  and  tell  him  so.     Yet,  stay  awhile  ; 
Thou  shalt  not  back  till  I  have  borne  this  corse 
Into  the  market-place  :  there  shall  I  try, 
In  my  oration,  how  the  people  take 
The  cruel  issue  of  these  bloody  men  ; 
According  to  the  which  thou  shalt  discourse 
To  young  Octavius  of  the  state  of  things. 
Lend  me  your  hand.  [Exeunt  with  Ccesar's  body. 

Scene  II.     The  Forum. 
Enter  Brutus  and  Cassius,  and  a  throng  of  Citizens. 
Citizens.  We  will  be  satisfied ;  let  us  be  satisfied. 
Brutus.  Then  follow  me,  and  give  me  audience,  friends. — 
Cassius,  go  you  into  the  other  street, 
And  part  the  numbers. — 

Those  that  will  hear  me  speak,  let  'em  stay  here  ; 
Those  that  will  follow  Cassius,  go  with  him ; 


84  JULIUS  CsESAR. 

And  public  reasons  shall  be  rendered 
Of  Caesar's  death. 

i  Citizen.  1 1  will  hear  Brutus  speak. 

2  Citizen.  I  will  hear  Cassius,  and  compare  their  reason?., 
When  severally  we  hear  them  rendered.  10 

[Exit  Cassius,  with  some  of  the  Citizens.     Brutus  goes 
into  the  pulpit. 

3  Citizen.  The  noble  Brutus  is  ascended.     Silence  ! 
Brutus.  Be  patient  till  the  last. 

Romans,  countrymen,  and  lovers!  hear  me  for  my  cause,  and 
be  silent,  that  you  may  hear  ;  believe  me  for  mine  honour, 
and  have  respect  to  mine  honour,  that  you  may  believe  ;  cen- 
suie  me  in  your  wisdom,  and  awake  your  senses,  that  you 
may  the  better  judge.  If  there  be  any  in  this  assembly,  any 
dear  friend  of  Caesar's,  to  him  I  say  that  Brutus'  love  to  Cae- 
sar was  no  less  than  his.  If  then  that  friend  demand  why 
Brutus  rose  against  Caesar,  this  is  my  answer, — Not  that  I 
loved  Caesar  less,  but  that  I  loved  Rome  more.  Had  you 
rather  Caesar  were  living,  and  die  all  slaves,  than  that  Caesar 
were  dead,  to  live  all  freemen  ?  As  Caesar  loved  me,  I  weep 
for  him  ;  as  he  was  fortunate,  I  rejoice  at  it ;  as  he  was  val- 
iant, I  honour  him  ;  but  as  he  was  ambitious,  I  slew  him. 
There  is  tears  for  his  love,  joy  for  his  fortune,  honour  for 
his  valour,  and  death  for  his  ambition.  Who  is  here  so  base 
that  would  be  a  bondman  ?  If  any,  speak,  for  him  have  I 
offended.  Who  is  here  so  rude  that  would  not  be  a  Roman? 
If  any,  speak,  for  him  have  I  offended.  Who  is  here  so  vile 
that  will  not  love  his  country?  If  any,  speak,  for  him  have 
I  offended.     I  pause  for  a  reply.  3* 

All.  None,  Brutus,  none. 

Brutus.  Then  none  have  I  offended.  I  have  done  no  more 
to  Caesar  than  you  shall  do  to  Brutus.  The  question  of  his 
death  is  enrolled  in  the  Capitol  ;  his  glory  not  extenuated, 
wherein  he  was  worthy,  nor  his  offences  enforced,  for  which 
he  suffered  death.  38 


ACT  III.     SCENE   II.  85 

Enter  Antony  and  others,  with  Caesar's  body. 
Here  comes  his  body,  mourned  by  Mark  Antony,  who,  though 
he  had  no  hand  in  his  death,  shall  receive  the  benefit  of  his 
dying,  a  place  in  the  commonwealth  j  as  which  of  you  shall 
not  ?  With  this  I  depart, — that,  as  I  slew  my  best  lover  for 
the  good  of  Rome,  I  have  the  same  dagger  for  myself,  when 
it  shall  please  my  country  to  need  my  death.  44 


All.  Live,  Brutus,  live  !  live 


1  Citizen.  Bring  him  with  triumph  home  unto  his  house. 

2  Citizen.  Give  him  a  statue  with  his  ancestors. 

3  Citizen.  Let  him  be  Caesar. 

4  Citizen.  Caesar's  better  parts 
Shall  now  be  crown'd  in  Brutus. 

1  Citizen.  We  '11  bring  him  to  his  house  with  shouts  and 

clamours.  s° 

Brutus.  My  countrymen, — 

2  Citizen.  Peace !  silence  !     Brutus  speaks. 
1  Citizen.  Peace,  ho  ! 

Brutus.  Good  countrymen,  let  me  depart  alone, 
And,  for  my  sake,  stay  here  with  Antony; 
Do  grace  to  Caesar's  corpse,  and  grace  his  speech 
Tending  to  Caesar's  glories,  which  Mark  Antony 
By  our  permission  is  allow'd  to  make. 
I  do  entreat  you,  not  a  man  depart, 
Save  I  alone,  till  Antony  have  spoke.  [Exit. 

1  Citizen.  Stay,  ho  !  and  let  us  hear  Mark  Antony.  60 

3  Citizen.  Let  him  go  up  into  the  public  chair; 
We  '11  hear  him. — Noble  Antony,  go  up. 

Antony.  For  Brutus'  sake,  I  am  beholding  to  you. 

4  Citizen.  What  does  he  say  of  Brutus  ? 

3  Citizen.  He  says,  for  Brutus'  sake, 
He  finds  himself  beholding  to  us  all. 

4  Citizen.  'T  were  best  he  speak  no  harm  of  Brutus  here. 
1  Citizen.  This  Caesar  was  a  tyrant. 


86  JULIUS  C&SAR. 

3  Citizen.  Nay,  that 's  certain  ; 

We  are  blest  that  Rome  is  rid  of  him. 

2  Citizen.  Peace,  let  us  hear  what  Antony  can  say.  69 

Antony.  You  gentle  Romans, — 

Ait.  Peace,  ho!  let  us  hear  him. 

'  Antony.  Friends,  Romans,  countrymen, lend  me  your  ears; 
I  come  to  bury  Caesar,  not  to  praise  him. 
The  evil  that  men  do  lives  after  them, 
The  good  is  oft  interred  with  their  bones  ; 
So  let  it  be  with  Caesar.     The  noble  Brutus 
Hath  told  you  Caesar  was  ambitious ; 
If  it  were  so,  it  was  a  grievous  fault, 
And  grievously  hath  Caesar  answer'd  it. 
Here,  under  leave  of  Brutus  and  the  rest, — 
For  Brutus  is  an  honourable  man,  80 

So  are  they  all,  all  honourable  men, — 
Come  I  to  speak  in  Caesar's  funeral. 
He  was  my  friend,  faithful  and  just  to  me : 
But  Brutus  says  he  was  ambitious ; 
And  Brutus  is  an  honourable  man. 
He  hath  brought  many  captives  home  to  Rome, 
Whose  ransom  did  the  general  coffers  fill ; 
Did  this  in  Caesar  seem  ambitious? 
When  that  the  poor  have  cried,  Caesar  hath  wept ; 
Ambition  should  be  made  of  sterner  stuff.  90 

Yet  Brutus  says  he  was  ambitious ; 
And  Brutus  is  an  honourable  man. 
You  all  did  see-that  on  the  Lupercal 
I  thrice  presented  him  a  kingly  crown, 
Which  he  did  thrice  refuse.     Was  this  ambition  ? 
Yet  Brutus  says,  he  was  ambitious  ; 
And,  sure,  he  is  an  honourable  man. 
I  speak  not  to  disprove  what  Brutus  spoke, 
But  here  I  am  to  speak  what  I  do  know. 
You  all  did  love  him  once,  not  without  cause ;  100 


ACT  III.    SCENE  II. 


87 


What  cause  withholds  you  then  to  mourn  for  him? 

0  judgment,  thou  art  fled  to  brutish  beasts, 

And  men  have  lost  their  reason  ! — Bear  with  me  ; 
My  heart  is  in  the  coffin  there  with  Caesar, 
And  I  must  pause  till  it  come  back  to  me. 

1  Citizen.  Methinks  there  is  much  reason  in  his  sayings. 

2  Citizen.  If  thou  consider  rightly  of  the  matter, 
Caesar  has  had  great  wrong. 

3  Citizen.  Has  he,  masters? 

1  fear  there  will  a  worse  come  in  his  place. 

4  Citizen.  Mark'd  ye  his  words  ?     He  would  not  take  the 

crown ;  no 

Therefore  't  is  certain  he  was  not  ambitious. 

1  Citizen.  If  it  be  found  so,  some  will  dear  abide  it. 

2  Citizen.  Poor  soul !  his  eyes  are  red  as  fire  with  weeping. 

3  Citizen.  There  's  not  a  nobler  man  in  Rome  than  Antony. 

4  Citizen.  Now  mark  him,  he  begins  again  to  speak. 
Antony.  But  yesterday  the  word  of  Caesar  might 

Have  stood  against  the  world ;  now  lies  he  there, 
And  none  so  poor  to  do  him  reverence. 

0  masters !  if  I  were  dispos'd  to  stir 

Your  hearts  and  minds  to  mutiny  and  rage,  120 

1  should  do  Brutus  wrong  and  Cassius  wrong, 
Who,  you  all  know,  are  honourable  men. 

I  will  not  do  them  wrong ;  I  rather  choose 

To  wrong  the  dead,  to  wrong  myself  and  you, 

Than  I  will  wrong  such  honourable  men. 

But  here  's  a  parchment,  with  the  seal  of  Caesar  ; 

I  found  it  in  his  closet ;  't  is  his  will. 

Let  but  the  commons  hear  this  testament — 

Which,  pardon  me,  I  do  not  mean  to  read — 

And  they  would  go  and  kiss  dead  Caesar's  wounds,  130 

And  dip  their  napkins  in  his  sacred  blood, 

Yea,  beg  a  hair  of  him  for  memory, 

And,  dying,  mention  it  within  their  wills, 


$8  JULIUS   CMSAR. 

Bequeathing  it  as  a  rich  legacy 
Unto  their  issue. 

4  Citizen.  We  '11  hear  the  will.     Read  it,  Mark  Antony. 

All.  The  will,  the  will !  we  will  hear  Caesar's  will. 

Antony.  Have  patience, gentle  friends,  I  must  not  read  it; 
It  te  not  meet  you  know  how  Caesar  lov'd  you. 
You  are  not  wood,  you  are  not  stones,  but  men  ;  J4° 

And,  being  men,  hearing  the  will  of  Caesar, 
It  will  inflame  you,  it  will  make  you  mad. 
'T  is  good  you  know  not  that  you  are  his  heirs ; 
For  if  you  should,  O,  what  would  come  of  it  ? 

4  Citizen.  Read  the  will !  we  '11  hear  it,  Antony  ! 
You  shall  read  us  the  will !  Caesar's  will ! 

Antony.  Will  you  be  patient?     Will  you  stay  awhile? 
I  have  o'ershot  myself,  to  tell  you  of  it. 
I  fear  I  wrong  the  honourable  men 
Whose  daggers  have  stabb'd  Caesar ;  I  do  fear  it.  »so 

4  Citizen.  They  were  traitors  !     Honourable  men  ! 

All.  The  will !  the  testament ! 

2  Citizen.  They  were  villains,  murtherers !   The  will !    Read 
the  will ! 

Antofiy.  You  will  compel  me,  then,  to  read  the  will  ? 
Then  make  a  ring  about  the  corpse  of  Caesar, 
And  let  me  show  you  him  that  made  the  will. 
Shall  I  descend?     And  will  you  give  me  leave? 

All.  Come  down.  159 

2  Citizen.  Descend.  [He  comes  down  from  the  pulpit. 

3  Citizen.  You  shall  have  leave. 

4  Citizen.  A  ring ;  stand  round. 

1  Citizen.  Stand  from  the  hearse,  stand  from  the  body. 

2  Citizen.  Room  for  Antony  ! — most  noble  Antony  ! 
Antony.  Nay,  press  not  so  upon  me  ;  stand  far  off. 
All.  Stand  back  !  room  !  bear  back  ! 

Antony.  If  you  have  tears,  prepare  to  shed  them  now. 
You  all  do  know  this  mantle  :  I  remember  j 


ACT  III.     SCENE  II.  89 

The  first  time  ever  Caesar  put  it  on ; 

'T  was  on  a  summer's  evening,  in  his  tent,  170 

That  day  he  overcame  the  Nervii. 

Look !  in  this  place  ran  Cassius'  dagger  through ; 

See  what  a  rent  the  envious  Casca  made ; 

Through  this  the  well-beloved  Brutus  stabb'd ; 

And  as  he  pluck'd  his  cursed  steel  away, 

Mark  how  the  blood  of  Caesar  follow'd  it, 

As  rushing  out  of  doors,  to  be  resolv'd 

If  Brutus  so  unkindly  knock'd,  or  no  ; 

For  Brutus,  as  you  know,  was  Caesar's  angel : 

Judge,  O  you  gods,  how  dearly  Caesar  lov'd  him  !  180 

This  was  the  most  unkindest  cut  of  all  ; 

For,  when  the  noble  Caesar  saw  him  stab, 

Ingratitude,  more  strong  than  traitors'  arms, 

Quite  vanquish'd  him :  then  burst  his  mighty  heart ; 

And,  in  his  mantle  muffling  up  his  face, 

Even  at  the  base  of  Pompey's  statua, 

Which  all  the  while  ran  blood,  great  Caesar  fell. 

O,  what  a  fall  was  there,  my  countrymen  ! 

Then  I,  and  you,  and  all  of  us  fell  clown, 

Whilst  bloody  treason  flourish'd  over  us.  19° 

O,  now  you  weep,  and  I  perceive  you  feel 

The  dint  of  pity;  these  are  gracious  drops. 

Kind  souls,  what !  weep  you  when  you  but  behold 

Our  Caesar's  vesture  wounded  ?     Look  you  here, 

Here  is  himself,  marr'd,  as  you  see,  with  traitors. 

1  Citizen.  O  piteous  spectacle  ! 

2  Citizen.  O  noble  Caesar ! 

3  Citizen.  O  woful  day ! 

4  Citizen.  O  traitors,  villains  ! 

1  Citizen.  O  most  bloody  sight !  200 

2  Citizen.  We  will  be  reveng'd ! 

All.  Revenge!      About!      Seek!      Burn!      Fire!     Kill! 
Slay  !     Let  not  a  traitor  live  ! 


9o  .  JULIUS  CMSAR. 

Antony.  Stay,  countrymen. 

i  Citizen.  Peace  there !     Hear  the  noble  Antony. 

2  Citizen.  We  '11  hear  him,  we  '11  follow  him,  we  '11  die  with 
him. 

Antony.  Good  friends,  sweet  friends,  let  me  not  stir  you  up 
To  such  a  sudden  flood  of  mutiny. 

They  that  have  done  this  deed  are  honourable.  210 

What  private  griefs  they  have,  alas  !  I  know  not, 
That  made  them  do  it ;  they  are  wise  and  honourable, 
And  will,  no  doubt,  with  reasons  answer  you. 
I  come  not,  friends,  to  steal  away  your  hearts : 
I  am  no  orator,  as  Brutus  is, 
But,  as  you  know  me  all,  a  plain  blunt  man, 
That  love  my  friend  ;  and  that  they  know  full  well 
That  gave  me  public  leave  to  speak  of  him. 
For  I  have  neither  wit,  nor  words,  nor  worth, 
Action,  nor  utterance,  nor  the  power  of  speech,  220 

To  stir  men's  blood :  I  only  speak  right  on  ; 
I  tell  you  that  which  you  yourselves  do  know, 
Show  you  sweet  Caesar's  wounds,  poor,  poor  dumb  mouths, 
And  bid  them  speak  for  me  :  but,  were  I  Brutus, 
And  Brutus  Antony,  there  were  an  Antony 
Would  ruffle  up  your  spirits,  and  put  a  tongue 
In  every  wound  of  Caesar  that  should  move 
The  stones  of  Rome  to  rise  and  mutiny. 

All.  We  '11  mutiny. 

1  Citizen.  We  '11  burn  the  house  of  Brutus.  230 

3  Citizen.  Away,  then  !  come,  seek  the  conspirators. 
Antony.  Yet  hear  me,  countrymen  ;  yet  hear  me  speak. 
All.  Peace,  ho  !     Hear  Antony,  most  noble  Antony. 
Antony.  Why,  friends,  you  go  to  do  you  know  not  what. 

Wherein  hath  Caesar  thus  deserv'd  your  loves? 
Alas,  you  know  not ! — I  must  tell  you,  then. 
You  have  forgot  the  will  I  told  you  of. 

All.  Most  true  ;— the  will ! — let  's  stay,  and  hear  the  will. 


ACT  III.    SCENE  II.  91 

Antony.  Here  is  the  will,  and  under  Caesar's  seal. 
To  every  Roman  citizen  he  gives,  240 

To  every  several  man,  seventy-five  drachmas. 

2  Citizen.  Most  noble  Caesar  ! — we  '11  revenge  his  death. 

3  Citizen.  O  royal  Caesar ! 
Antony.  Hear  me  with  patience. 
All.  Peace,  ho  ! 

Antony.  Moreover,  he  hath  left  you  all  his  walks, 
His  private  arbours,  and  new-planted  orchards, 
On  this  side  Tiber ;  he  hath  left  them  you, 
And  to  your  heirs  forever,  common  pleasures, 
To  walk  abroad,  and  recreate  yourselves.  250 

Here  was  a  Caesar!  when  comes  such  another? 

1  Citizen.  Never,  never ! — Come,  away,  away  ! 
We  '11  burn  his  body  in  the  holy  place, 

And  with  the  brands  fire  the  traitors'  houses. 
Take  up  the  body. 

2  Citizen.  Go,  fetch  fire. 

3  Citizen.   Pluck  down  benches. 

4  Citizen.  Pluck  down  forms,  windows,  any  thing. 

[Exeunt  Citizens,  with  the  body. 
Antony.  Now  let  it  work.     Mischief,  thou  art  afoot, 
Take  thou  what  course  thou  wilt! — How  now,  fellow?        260 

Enter  a  Servant. 

Servant.  Sir,  Octavius  is  already  come  to  Rome. 

Antony.  Where  is  he  ? 

Servant.  He  and  Lepidus  are  at  Caesar's  house. 

Antony.  And  thither  will  I  straight  to  visit  him. 
He  comes  upon  a  wish.     Fortune  is  merry, 
And  in  this  mood  will  give  us  any  thing. 

Servant.  I  heard  him  say  Brutus  and  Cassius 
Are  rid  like  madmen  through  the  gates  of  Rome. 

Antony.  Belike  they  had  some  notice  of  the  people,        269 
How  I  had  mov'd  them.     Bring  me  to  Octavius.     \Exeunt. 


92  JULIUS  CAESAR. 


Scene  III.     A  Street. 

Enter  Cinna  the  Poet. 
Cinna.  I  dream 'd  to-night  that  I  did  feast  with  Caesar, 
And  things  unlucky  charge  my  fantasy. 
I  have  no  will  to  wander  forth  of  doors, 
Yet  something  leads  me  forth. 

Enter  Citizens. 

i  Citizen.  What  is  your  name  ? 

2  Citizen.  Whither  are  you  going  ? 

3  Citizen.  Where  do  you  dwell  ? 

4  Citizen.  Are  you  a  married  man,  or  a  bachelor  ? 

2  Citizen.  Answer  every  man  directly. 

i  Citizen.  Ay,  and  briefly.  io 

4  Citizen.  Ay,  and  wisely. 

3  Citizen.  Ay,  and  truly,  you  were  best. 

Cinna.  What  is  my  name?  Whither  am  I  going?  Where 
do  I  dwell  ?  Am  I  a  married  man,  or  a  bachelor?  Then  to 
answer  every  man  directly  and  briefly,  wisely  and  truly. 
Wisely,  I  say,  I  am  a  bachelor. 

2  Citizen.  That  's  as  much  as  to  say,  they  are  fools  that 
marry ; — you  '11  bear  me  a  bang  for  that,  I  fear.  Proceed  ; 
directly. 

Cinna.  Directly,  I  am  going  to  Caesar's  funeral.  20 

1  Citizen.  As  a  friend,  or  an  enemy  ? 
Cinna.  As  a  friend. 

2  Citizen.  That  matter  is  answered  directly. 

4  Citizen,   lor  your  dwelling, — briefly. 
Cinna.  Briefly,  I  dwell  by  the  Capitol. 

3  Citizen.  Your  name,  sir,  truly. 
Cinna.  Truly,  my  name  is  Cinna. 

1  Citizen.  Tear  him  to  pieces,  he  's  a  conspirator. 
Cinna.  I  am  Cinna  the  poet,  I  am  Cinna  the  poet. 


ACT  III.     SCENE  III. 


93 


4  Citizen.  Tear  him  for  his  bad  verses,  tear  him  for  his  bad 
verses.  31 

Cinna.  I  am  not  Cinna  the  conspirator. 

2  Citizen.  It  is  no  matter,  his  name  's  Cinna ;  pluck  but  his 
name  out  of  his  heart,  and  turn  him  going. 

3  Citizen.  Tear  him,  tear  him  !  Come,  brands,  ho !  fire- 
brands !  To  Brutus',  to  Cassius' ;  burn  all.  Some  to  Decius' 
house,  and  some  to  Casca's  ;  some  to  Ligarius' :  away  !  go  ! 

[Exeunt. 


SITE   OK    THE    ROMAN    FORUM. 


ROMAN   SOLDIERS. 


ACT  IV. 

Scene  I.    A  Room  in  Antony's  House.     Antony,  Octavius, 
and  Lepidus,  seated  at  a  table. 

Antony.  These   many,  then,  shall  die  ;    their  names    are 

prick'd. 
Octavius.  Your  brother  too  must  die.     Consent  you,  Lep 

idus  ? 
Lepidus.  I  do  consent. 

Octavius.  Prick  him  down,  Antony. 

Lepidus.  Upon  condition  Publius  shall  not  live, 
Who  is  your  sister's  son,  Mark  Antony. 


ACT  IV.    SCENE   I. 


95 


Antofiy.  He  shall  not  live ;  look,  with  a  spot  I  damn  him. 
But,  Lepidus,  go  you  to  Caesar's  house  ; 
Fetch  the  will  hither,  and  we  shall  determine 
How  to  cut  off  some  charge  in  legacies. 

Lepidus.  What,  shall  I  find  you  here  ?  10 

Octavius.  Or  here,  or  at  the  Capitol.  [Exit  Lepidus. 

Antony.  This  is  a  slight,  unmeri table  man, 
Meet  to  be  sent  on  errands;  is  it  fit, 
The  three-fold  world  divided,  he  should  stand 
One  of  the  three  to  share  it  ? 

Octavius.  So  you  thought  him. 

And  took  his  voice  who  should  be  prick'd  to  die 
In  our  black  sentence  and  proscription. 

Antony.  Octavius,  I  have  seen  more  days  than  you: 
And  though  we  lay  these  honours  on  this  man, 
To  ease  ourselves  of  divers  slanderous  loads,  20 

He  shall  but  bear  them  as  the  ass  bears  gold, 
To  groan  and  sweat  under  the  business, 
Either  led  or  driven,  as  we  point  the  way ; 
And  having  brought  our  treasure  where  we  will, 
Then  take  we  down  his  load  and  turn  him  off, 
Like  to  the  empty  ass,  to  shake  his  ears 
And  graze  in  commons. 

Octavius.  You  may  do  your  will ; 

But  he  's  a  tried  and  valiant  soldier. 

Ajitony.  So  is  my  horse,  Octavius,  and  for  that 
I  do  appoint  him  store  of  provender.  30 

It  is  a  creature  that  I  teach  to  fight, 
To  wind,  to  stop,  to  run  directly  on, 
His  corporal  motion  govern'd  by  my  spirit. 
And,  in  some  taste,  is  Lepidus  but  so : 
He  must  be  taught,  and  train'd,  and  bid  go  forth ; 
A  barren-spirited  fellow,  one  that  feeds 
On  objects,  arts,  and  imitations 
Which,  out  of  use  and  staPd  by  other  men, 


96  JULIUS  Cy&SAR. 

Begin  his  fashion.     Do  not  talk  of  him, 

But  as  a  property. — And  now,  Octavius,  40 

Listen  great  things.     Brutus  and  Cassius 

Are  levying  powers  ;  we  must  straight  make  head  : 

Therefore  let  our  alliance  be  combin'd, 

Our  best  friends  made,  our  means  stretch'd ; 

And  let  us  presently  go  sit  in  council, 

How  covert  matters  may  be  best  disclos'd, 

And  open  perils  surest  answered. 

Octavius.  Let  us  do  so :  for  we  are  at  the  stake, 
And  bay'd  about  with  many  enemies ; 

And  some  that  smile  have  in  their  hearts,  I  fear,  50 

Millions  of  mischiefs.  [Exeunt. 

Scene  II.     Before  the  Tent  of  Brutus,  in  the  Camp  near 
Sardis. 

Drum.     Enter  Brutus,  Lucilius,  Titinius,  and  Soldiers; 
Pindarus  meeting  them  ;  Lucius  at  a  distance. 

Brutus.  Stand,  ho ! 

Lucilius.  Give  the  word,  ho  !  and  stand. 

Brutus.  What  now,  Lucilius?  is  Cassius  near? 

Lucilius.  He  is  at  hand,  and  Pindarus  is  come 
To  do  you  salutation  from  his  master. 

[Pindarus  gives  a  letter  to  Brutus. 

Brutus.  He  greets  me  well. — Your  master,  Pindarus, 
In  his  own  change,  or  by  ill  officers, 
Hath  given  me  some  worthy  cause  to  wish 
Things  done  undone ;  but  if  he  be  at  hand, 
I  shall  be  satisfied. 

JVudarus.  I  do  not  doubt  «cl 

But  that  my  noble  master  will  appear 
Such  as  he  is,  full  of  regard  and  honour. 

Brutus.  He  is  not  doubted. — A  word,  Lucilius  : 
How  he  receiv'd  you,  let  me  be  resolv'd. 


ACT  IV.     SCENE  II.  97 

Lucilius.  With  courtesy,  and  with  respect  enough, 
But  not  with  such  familiar  instances, 
Nor  with  such  free  and  friendly  conference, 
As  he  hath  us'd  of  old. 

Brutus.  Thou  hast  describ'd 

A  hot  friend  cooling.     Ever  note,  Lucilius, 
When  love  begins  to  sicken  and  decay  20 

It  useth  an  enforced  ceremony. 
There  are  no  tricks  in  plain  and  simple  faith  ; 
But  hollow  men,  like  horses  hot  at  hand, 
Make  gallant  show  and  promise  of  their  mettle, 
But  when  they  should  endure  the  bloody  spur 
They  fall  their  crests,  and  like  deceitful  jades 
Sink  in  the  trial.     Comes  his  army  on  ? 

Lucilius.  They  mean  this  night  in  Sardis  to  be  quarter'd  ; 
The  greater  part,  the  horse  in  general, 
Are  come  with  Cassius.  [March  within. 

Brutus.  Hark,  he  is  arriv'd. —  30 

March  gently  on  to  meet  him. 

Enter  Cassius  and  Soldiers. 

Cassius.  Stand,  ho ! 

Brutus.  Stand,  ho  !     Speak  the  word  along. 

1  Soldier.  Stand. 

2  Soldier.   Stand. 

3  Soldier.  Stand. 

Cassius.  Most  noble  brother,  you  have  done  me  wrong. 

Brutus.  Judge  me,  you  gods  !     Wrong  I  mine  enemies  ? 
And,  if  not  so,  how  should  I  wrong  a  brother? 

Cassius.  Brutus,  this  sober  form  of  yours  hides  wrongs,    40 
And  when  you  do  them — 

Brutus.  Cassius,  be  content ; 

Speak  your  griefs  softly, — I  do  know  you  well. 
Before  the  eyes  of  both  our  armies  here, 
Which  should  perceive  nothing  but  love  from  us, 

G 


98  JULIUS  CAESAR. 

Let  us  not  wrangle.     Bid  them  move  away  ; 
Then  in  my  tent,  Cassius,  enlarge  your  griefs, 
And  I  will  give  you  audience. 

Cassius.  Pindarus, 

Bid  our  commanders  lead  their  charges  off 
A  little  from  this  ground. 

Brutus.  Lucius,  do  you  the  like  ;  and  let  no  man  5° 

Come  to  our  tent,  till  we  have  done  our  conference. 
Lucilius  and  Titinius,  guard  our  door.  [Exeunt. 

Scene  III.     Within  the  Tent  of  Brutus. 
Enter  Brutus  and  Cassius. 

Cassius.  That  you  have  wrong'd  me  doth  appear  in  this: 
You  have  condemn 'd  and  noted  Lucius  Pella 
For  taking  bribes  here  of  the  Sardians  j 
Wherein  my  letter,  praying  on  his  side, 
Because  I  knew  the  man,  was  slighted  off. 

Brutus.  You  wrong'd  yourself  to  write  in  such  a  case. 

Cassius.  In  such  a  time  as  this  it  is  not  meet 
That  every  nice  offence  should  bear  his  comment. 

Brutus.  Let  me  tell  you,  Cassius,  you  yourself 
Are  much  condemn'd  to  have  an  itching  palm,  10 

To  sell  and  mart  your  offices  for  gold 
To  undeservers. 

Cassius.  I  an  itching  palm  ? 

You  know  that  you  are  Brutus  that  speaks  this, 
Or,  by  the  gods,  this  speech  were  else  your  last. 

Brutus.  The  name  of  Cassius  honours  this  corruption, 
And  chastisement  doth  therefore  hide  his  head. 

Cassius.  Chastisement ! 

Brutus.  Remember  March,  the  ides  of  March  remember ! 
Did  not  great  Julius  bleed  for  justice  sake  ? 
What  villain  touch'd  his  body,  that  did  stab,  20 

And  not  for  justice  ?     What !  shall  one  of  us. 


ACT  IV.     SCENE  III. 


99 


That  struck  the  foremost  man  of  all  this  world 
But  for  supporting  robbers, — shall  we  now 
Contaminate  our  fingers  with  base  bribes, 
And  sell  the  mighty  space  of  our  large  honours 
For  so  much  trash  as  may  be  grasped  thus  ? 
I  had  rather  be  a  dog,  and  bay  the  moon, 
Than  such  a  Roman. 

Cassius.  Brutus,  bay  not  me  ; 

I  '11  not  endure  it :  you  forget  yourself, 

To  hedge  me  in.     I  am  a  soldier,  I,  3° 

Older  in  practice,  abler  than  yourself 
To  make  conditions. 

Brutus.  Go  to  ;  you  are  not,  Cassius. 

Cassius.  I  am. 

Brutus.  I  say  you  are  not. 

Cassius.  Urge  me  no  more,  I  shall  forget  myself; 
Have  mind  upon  your  health,  tempt  me  no  further. 

Brutus.  Away,  slight  man  ! 

Cassius.  Is  't  possible  ? 

Brutus.  Hear  me,  for  I  will  speak. 

Must  I  give  way  and  room  to  your  rash  choler  ? 
Shall  I  be  frighted  when  a  madman  stares?  4° 

Cassius.     O  ye  gods,  ye  gods  !     Must  I  endure  all  this  ? 

Brutus.  All  this  ?     Ay,  more.     Fret  till  your  proud  heart 
break  ; 
Go  show  your  slaves  how  choleric  you  are, 
And  make  your  bondmen  tremble.     Must  I  budge? 
Must  I  observe  you  ?     Must  I  stand  and  crouch 
Under  your  testy  humour  ?     By  the  gods, 
You  shall  digest  the  venom  of  your  spleen, 
Though  it  do  split  you  j  for  from  this  day  forth 
I  '11  use  you  for  my  mirth,  yea,  for  my  laughter, 
When  you  are  waspish. 

Cassius.  Is  it  come  to  this  ?  so 

Brutus.  You  say  you  are  a  better  soldier  : 


ioo  JULIUS  C&SAR. 

Let  it  appear  so  ;  make  your  vaunting  true, 

And  it  shall  please  me  well.     For  mine  own  part, 

I  shall  be  glad  to  learn  of  noble  men. 

Cassius.  You  wrong  me  every  way,  you  wrong  me,  Brutus ; 
I  said  an  elder  soldier,  not  a  better  : 
Did  I  say  better? 

Brutus.  If  you  did,  I  care  not. 

Cassius.  When  Qesar  liv'd  he  durst  not  thus  have  mov'd  me. 

Brutus.  Peace,  peace !  you  durst  not  so  have  tempted  him. 

Cassius.  I  durst  not  ?  6j 

Brutus.  No. 

Cassius.  What  ?  durst  not  tempt  him  ? 

Brutus.  For  your  life  you  durst  not 

Cassius.  Do  not  presume  too  much  upon  my  love ; 
I  may  do  that  I  shall  be  sorry  for. 

Brutus.  You  have  done  that  you  should  be  sorry  for. 
There  is  no  terror,  Cassius,  in  your  threats  ; 
For  I  am  arm'd  so  strong  in  honesty 
That  they  pass  by  me  as  the  idle  wind 
Which  I  respect  not.     I  did  send  to  you 
For  certain  sums  of  gold,  which  you  denied  me  j —  70 

For  I  can  raise  no  money  by  vile  means : 
By  heaven,  I  had  rather  coin  my  heart, 
And  drop  my  blood  for  drachmas,  than  to  wring 
From  the  hard  hands  of  peasants  their  vile  trash 
By  any  indirection. — I  did  send 
To  you  for  gold  to  pay  my  legions, 
Which  you  denied  me.     Was  that  done  like  Cassius? 
Should  I  have  answer'd  Caius  Cassius  so  ? 
When  Marcus  Brutus  grows  so  covetous, 
To  lock  such  rascal  counters  from  his  friends,  fa 

Be  ready,  gods,  with  all  your  thunderbolts, 
Dash  him  to  pieces ! 

Cassius.  I  denied  you  not. 

Brutus.  You  did. 


ACT  IV.    SCENE  III.  T3T. 

Cassius.  I  did  not ;  he  was  but  a  fool 

That  brought  my  answer  back. — Brutus  hath  riv'd  my  heart ; 
A  friend  should  bear  a  friend's  infirmities, 
But  Brutus  makes  mine  greater  than  they  are. 

Brutus.  I  do  not,  till  you  practise  them  on  me. 

Cassius.  You  love  me  not. 

Brutus.  I  do  not  like  your  faults. 

Cassius.  A  friendly  eye  could  never  see  such  faults. 

Brutus.  A  flatterer's  would  not,  though  they  do  appear  90 
As  huge  as  high  Olympus. 

Cassius.  Come,  Antony,  and  young  Octavius,  come, 
Revenge  yourselves  alone  on  Cassius ! 
For  Cassius  is  aweary  of  the  world  ; 
Hated  by  one  he  loves,  brav'd  by  his  brother, 
Check'd  like  a  bondman  ;  all  his  faults  observ'd, 
Set  in  a  note-book,  learn'd  and  conn'd  by  rote, 
To  cast  into  my  teeth.     O,  I  could  weep 
My  spirit  from  mine  eyes  ! — There  is  my  dagger, 
And  here  my  naked  breast ;  within,  a  heart  100 

Dearer  than  Plutus'  mine,  richer  than  gold  : 
If  that  thou  beest  a  Roman,  take  it  forth. 
I,  that  denied  thee  gold,  will  give  my  heart : 
Strike,  as  thou  didst  at  Cassar ;  for  I  know, 
When  thou  didst  hate  him  worst,  thou  lov'dst  him  better 
Than  ever  thou  lov'dst  Cassius. 

Brutus.  Sheathe  your  dagger : 

Be  angry  when  you  will,  it  shall  have  scope  ; 
Do  what  you  will,  dishonour  shall  be  humour. 
O  Cassius,  you  are  yoked  with  a  lamb, 

That  carries  anger  as  the  flint  bears  fire,  no 

Who,  much  enforced,  shows  a  hasty  spark 
And  straight  is  cold  again. 

Cassius.  Hath  Cassius  liv'd 

To  be  but  mirth  and  laughter  to  his  Brutus, 
When  grief  and  blood  ill-temper'd  vexeth  him? 


^02  JULIUS  CMSAR. 

Brutus.  When  I  spoke  that,  I  was  ill-temper'd  too. 

Cassius.  Do  you  confess  so  much  ?     Give  me  your  hand. 

Brutus.  And  my  heart  too. 

Cassius.  O  Brutus  !  — 

Brutus.  What 's  the  matter  ? 

Cassius.  Have  not  you  love  enough  to  bear  with  me, 
When  that  rash  humour  which  my  mother  gave  me 
Makes  me  forgetful  ? 

Brutus.  Yes,  Cassius  ;  and  from  henceforth,  no 

When  you  are  over-earnest  with  your  Brutus, 
He  '11  think  your  mother  chides,  and  leave  you  so. 

[JVoise  within. 

Poet.  [  Within~\  Let  me  go  in  to  see  the  generals : 
There  is  some  grudge  between  'em ;  't  is  not  meet 
They  be  alone. 

Lucilius.  [Wiiliin]  You  shall  not  come  to  them. 

Poet.  \Withiii\  Nothing  but  death  shall  stay  me. 

Enter  Poet,  followed  by  Lucilius  a/*// Titinius. 

Cassius.  How  now?     What  's  the  matter? 

Poet.  For  shame,  you  generals  !     What  do  you  mean  ? 
Love,  and  be  friends,  as  two  such  men  should  be ; 
For  I  have  seen  more  years,  I  'm  sure,  than  ye.  130 

Cassius.  Ha,  ha  !  how  vilely  doth  this  cynic  rhyme  ! 

Brutus.  Get  you  hence,  sirrah  !  saucy  fellow,  hence  ! 

Cassius.  Bear  with  him,  Brutus ;  't  is  his  fashion. 

Brutus.  I  '11  know  his  humour  when  he  knows  his  time. 
What  should  the  wars  do  with  these  jigging  fools ! — 
Companion,  hence  ! 

Cassius.  Away,  away !  be  gone !  [Exit  Poet, 

Brutus.  Lucilius  and  Titinius,  bid  the  commanders 
Prepare  to  lodge  their  companies  to-night. 

Cassius.  And  come  yourselves,  and  bring  Messala  with  you, 
Immediately  to  us.  [  Exeunt  Lucilius  and  Titinius. 

Brutus,  Lucius,  a  bowl  of  wine. 


ACT  IV.     SCENE  III. 


103 


Cassius.  I  did  not  think  you  could  have  been  so  angry. 
Brutus.  O  Cassius,  I  am  sick  of  many  griefs  ! 
Cassius.  Of  your  philosophy  you  make  no  use, 
If  you  give  place  to  accidental  evils. 

Brutus.  No  man  bears  sorrow  better. — Portia  is  dead. 

Cassius.  Ha!  Portia? 

Brutus.   She  is  dead. 

Cassius.  How  scap'd  I  killing,  when  I  cross'd  you  so  ? — 

0  insupportable  and  touching  loss ! — 
Upon  what  sickness  ? 

Brutus.  Impatient  of  my  absence,  150 

And  grief  that  young  Octavius  with  Mark  Antony 
Have  made  themselves  so  strong  ; — for  with  her  death 
That  tidings  came. — With  this  she  fell  distract, 
And,  her  attendants  absent,  swallow'd  fire. 

Cassius.  And  died  so? 

Brutus.  Even  so. 

Cassius.  O  ye  immortal  gods  ! 

Enter  Lucius,  with  wine  and  tapers. 
Brutus.  Speak  no  more  of  her.  —  Give  me  a  bowl  of 
wine. — 
In  this  I  bury  all  unkindness,  Cassius.  [Drinks. 

Cassius.  My  heart  is  thirsty  for  that  noble  pledge. — 
Fill,  Lucius,  till  the  wine  o'erswell  the  cup  ;  159 

1  cannot  drink  too  much  of  Brutus'  love.  [Drinks. 

Enter  Titinius,  with  Messala. 

Brutus.  Come  in,  Titinius. — Welcome,  good  Messala.— 
Now  sit  we  close  about  this  taper  here, 
And  call  in  question  our  necessities. 

Cassius.  Portia,  art  thou  gone  ? 

Brutus.  No  more,  I  pray  you. — 

Messala,  I  have  here  received  letters, 
That  young  Octavius  and  Mark  Antony 


104  JULIUS  CSESAR. 

Come  down  upon  us  with  a  mighty  power, 
Bending  their  expedition  toward  Philippi. 

Messala.  Myself  have  letters  of  the  selfsame  tenour. 

Brutus.  With  what  addition  ?  I7o 

Messala.  That  by  proscription  and  bills  of  outlawry, 
Octavius,  Antony,  and  Lepidus 
Have  put  to  death  an  hundred  senators. 

Brutus.  Therein  our  letters  do  not  well  agree; 
Mine  speak  of  seventy  senators  that  died 
By  their  proscriptions,  Cicero  being  one. 

Cassius.  Cicero  one  ? 

Messala.  Cicero  is  dead, 

And  by  that  order  of  proscription. — 
Had  you  your  letters  from  your  wife,  my  lord  ? 

Brutus.  No,  Messala.  *so 

Messala.  Nor  nothing  in  your  letters  writ  of  her? 

Brutus.  Nothing,  Messala. 

Messala.  That,  methinks,  is  strange. 

Brutus.  Why  ask  you  ?     Hear  you  aught  of  her  in  yours  ? 

Messala.  No,  my  lord. 

Brutus.  Now,  as  you  are  a  Roman,  tell  me  true. 

Messala.  Then  like  a  Roman  bear  the  truth  I  tell ; 
For  certain  she  is  dead,  and  by  strange  manner. 

Brutus.  Why,  farewell,  Portia. — We  must  die,  Messala. 
With  meditating  that  she  must  die  once, 
I  have  the  patience  to  endure  it  now.  190 

Messala.  Even  so  great  men  great  losses  should  endure. 

Cassius.  I  have  as  much  of  this  in  art  as  you, 
But  yet  my  nature  could  not  bear  it  so. 

Brutus.  Well,  to  our  work  alive.     What  do  you  think 
Of  marching  to  Philippi  presently  ? 

Cassius.  I  do  not  think  it  good. 

Brutus.  Your  reason  ? 

Cassius.  This  it  is  : 

'T  is  better  that  the  enemy  seek  us ; 


ACT  IV.    SCENE  III.  105 

So  shall  he  waste  his  means,  weary  his  soldiers, 

Doing  himself  offence,  whilst  we  lying  still 

Are  full  of  rest,  defence,  and  nimbleness.  200 

Brutus.  Good  reasons  must,  of  force,  give  place  to  better. 
The  people  'twixt  Philippi  and  this  ground 
Do  stand  but  in  a  forc'd  affection, 
For  they  have  grudg'd  us  contribution. 
The  enemy,  marching  along  by  them, 
By  them  shall  make  a  fuller  number  up, 
Come  on  refresh'd,  new-added,  and  encourag'd  ; 
From  which  advantage  shall  we  cut  him  off 
If  at  Philippi  we  do  face  him  there, 
These  people  at  our  back. 

Cassius.  Hear  me,  good  brother.  210 

Brutus.  Under  your  pardon. — You  must  note  beside 
That  we  have  tried  the  utmost  of  our  friends. 
Our  legions  are  brim-full,  our  cause  is  ripe  : 
The  enemy  increaseth  every  day ; 
We,  at  the  height,  are  ready  to  decline. 
There  is  a  tide  in  the  affairs  of  men, 
Which,  taken  at  the  flood,  leads  on  to  fortune ; 
Omitted,  all  the  voyage  of  their  life 
Is  bound  in  shallows  and  in  miseries. 

On  such  a  full  sea  are  we  now  afloat,  2*j 

And  we  must  take  the  current  when  it  serves, 
Or  lose  our  ventures. 

Cassius.  Then,  with  your  will,  go  on  ; 

We  '11  along  ourselves  and  meet  them  at  Philippi. 

Brutus.  The  deep  of  night  is  crept  upon  our  talk, 
And  nature  must  obey  necessity, 
Which  we  will  niggard  with  a  little  rest. 
There  is  no  more  to  say  ? 

Cassius.  No  more.     Good  night ! 

Early  to-morrow  will  we  rise  and  hence. 

Brutus.  Lucius,  my  gown. — [Exit  Lucius.~\    Farewell,  good 
Messala  ! — 


106  JULIUS  C&SAR. 

Good  night,  Titinius  ! — Noble,  noble  Cassius,  230 

Good  night,  and  good  repose  ! 

Cassius.  O  my  dear  brother, 

This  was  an  ill  beginning  of  the  night ; 
Never  come  such  division  'tween  our  souls! 
Let  it  not,  Brutus. 

Enter  Lucius,  with  the  gown. 

Brutus.  Every  thing  is  well. 

Cassius.  Good  night,  my  lord  ! 

Brutus.  Good  night,  good  brother ! 

litinius,  Messala.  Good  night,  lord  Brutus  ! 

Brutus.  Farewell,  every  one  ! — 

{Exeunt  Cassius,  Titinius,  and  Messala. 
Give  me  the  gown.     Where  is  thy  instrument  ? 

Lucius.   Here,  in  the  tent. 

Brutus.  What !  thou  speak'st  drowsily  ? 

Poor  knave,  I  blame  thee  not ;  thou  art  o'er-watch'd.  v 
Call  Claudius  and  some  other  of  my  men  ;  240 

I  '11  have  them  sleep  on  cushions  in  my  tent. 

Lucius.  Varro  and  Claudius  ! 

Enter  Varro  and  Claudius. 

Varro.  Calls  my  lord? 

Brutus.  I  pray  you,  sirs,  lie  in  my  tent  and  sleep ; 
It  may  be  I  shall  raise  you  by  and  by 
On  business  to  my  brother  Cassius. 

Varro.   So   please   you,  we   will   stand   and  watch   your 
pleasure. 

Brutus.   I  will  not  have  it  so:  lie  down,  good  sirs; 
It  may  be  I  shall  otherwise  bethink  me. — 
Look,  Lucius,  here  's  the  book  I  sought  for  so  ;  250 

I  put  it  in  the  pocket  of  my  gown.  [Servants  lie  down. 

Lucius.  I  was  sure  your  lordship  did  not  give  it  me. 

Brutus.  Bear  with  me,  good  boy;  I  am  much  forgetful. 


ACT  IV.    SCENE  III.  107 

Canst  thou  hold  up  thy  heavy  eyes  awhile, 
And  touch  thy  instrument  a  strain  or  two? 

Lucius.  Ay,  my  lord,  an  't  please  you. 

Brutus.  It  does,  my  boy  j 

I  trouble  thee  too  much,  but  thou  art  willing. 

Lucius.  It  is  my  duty,  sir. 

Brutus.  I  should  not  urge  thy  duty  past  thy  might; 
I  know  young  bloods  look  for  a  time  of  rest.  260 

Lucius.  I  have  slept,  my  lord,  already. 

Brutus.  It  was  well  done,  and  thou  shalt  sleep  again  ; 
I  will  not  hold  thee  long :  if  I  do  live, 

I  will  be  good  to  thee. —  [Music  and  a  song. 

This  is  a  sleepy  tune. — O  murtherous  slumber, 
Lay'st  thou  thy  leaden  mace  upon  my  boy, 
That  plays  thee  musicl — Gentle  knave,  good  night ; 
I  will  not  do  thee  so  much  wrong  to  wake  thee. 
If  thou  dost  nod,  thou  break'st  thy  instrument : 
I  '11  take  it  from  thee  ;  and,  good  boy,  good  night. —  270 

Let  me  see,  let  me  see, — is  not  the  leaf  turn'd  down 
Where  I  left  reading?     Here  it  is,  I  think.       \He  sits  down. 

Enter  the  Ghost  of  Caesar. 
How  ill  this  taper  burns  ! — Ha  !  who  comes  here? 
I  think  it  is  the  weakness  of  my  eyes 
That  shapes  this  monstrous  apparition. 
It  comes  upon  me. — Art  thou  any  thing  ? 
Art  thou  some  god,  some  angel,  or  some  devil, 
That  mak'st  my  blood  cold  and  my  hair  to  stare  ? 
Speak  to  me  what  thou  art. 

Ghost.  Thy  evil  spirit,  Brutus. 

Brutus.  Why  com'st  thou  ?  28c 

Ghost.  To  tell  thee  thou  shalt  see  me  at  Philippi. 

Brutus.  Well ;  then  I  shall  see  thee  again  ? 

Ghost.  Ay,  at  Philippi. 

[Ghost  vanishes. 


io8  JULIUS   CALSAR. 

Brutus.  Why,  I  will  see  thee  at  Philippi  then. — 
Now  I  have  taken  heart,  thou  vanishest. 
Ill  spirit,  I  would  hold  more  talk  with  thee. — 
Boy!  Lucius! — Varro  !  Claudius!     Sirs,  awake! — 
Claudius ! 

Lucius.  The  strings,  my  lord,  are  false. 

Brutus.  He  thinks  he  still  is  at  his  instrument. — 
Lucius,  awake  !  290 

Lucius.   My  lord  ! 

Brutus.  Didst  thou  dream, Lucius,  that  thou  so  criedst  out? 

Lucius.  My  lord,  I  do  not  know  that  I  did  cry. 

Brutus.  Yes,  that  thou  didst.     Didst  thou  see  any  thing/ 

Lucius.   Nothing,  my  lord. 

Brutus.  Sleep  again,  Lucius. — Sirrah,  Claudius  ! 
Fellow  thou  !  awake  ! 

Varro.  My  lord ! 

Claudius.  My  lord ! 

Brutus.  Why  did  you  so  cry  out,  sirs,  in  your  sleep?       30° 

Varro,  Claudius.  Did  we,  my  lord  ? 

Brutus.  Ay  ;  saw  you  any  thing? 

Varro.  No,  my  lord,  I  saw  nothing. 

Claudius.  Nor  I,  my  lord. 

Brutus.  Go,  and  commend  me  to  my  brother  Cassius ; 
Bid  him  set  on  his  powers  betimes  before, 
And  we  will  follow. 

Varro,  Claudius.     It  shall  be  done,  my  lord.  [Exeunt. 


Scene  I.     The  Plains  of  Philippi. 
Enter  Octavius,  Antony,  and  their  Army. 

Octavius.  Now,  Antony,  our  hopes  are  answered. 
You  said  the  enemy  would  not  come  down, 
But  keep  the  hills  and  upper  regions. 
It  proves  not  so  :  their  battles  are  at  hand  ; 
They  mean  to  warn  us  at  Philippi  here, 
Answering  before  we  do  demand  of  them. 

Antony.  Tut !  I  am  in  their  bosoms,  and  I  know 
Wherefore  they  do  it :  they  could  be  content 
To  visit  other  places,  and  come  down 


no  JULIUS  C&SAR. 

With  fearful  bravery,  thinking  by  this  face  10 

To  fasten  in  bur  thoughts  that  they  have  courage ; 
But  't  is  not  so. 

Enter  a  Messenger. 

Messenger.         Prepare  you,  generals  : 
The  enemy  comes  on  in  gallant  show ; 
Their  bloody  sign  of  battle  is  hung  out, 
And  something  to  be  done  immediately. 

Antony.  Octavius,  lead  your  battle  softly  on, 
Upon  the  left  hand  of  the  even  field. 

Octavius.  Upon  the  right  hand  I  j  keep  thou  the  left. 

Antony.  Why  do  you  cross  me  in  this  exigent  ?  '9 

Octavius.  I  do  not  cross  you  ;  but  I  will  do  so.       [ March. 

Drum.     Enter  Brutus,  Cassius,  and  their  Army ;  Lucilius, 
Titinius,  Messala,  and  others. 

Brutus.  They  stand  and  would  have  parley. 

Cassius.  Stand  fast,  Titinius;  we  must  out  and  talk. 

Octavius.  Mark  Antony,  shall  we  give  sign  of  battle  ? 

Antony.  No,  Caesar,  we  will  answer  on  their  charge. 
Make  forth  j  the  generals  would  have  some  words. 

Octavius.  Stir  not  until  the  signal. 

Brutus.  Words  before  blows  ;  is  it  so,  countrymen  ? 

Octavius.  Not  that  we  love  words  better,  as  you  do. 

Brutus.  Good  words  are  better  than  bad  strokes,  Octavius. 

Antony.  In  your  bad  strokes,  Brutus,  you  give  good  words  : 
Witness  the  hole  you  made  in  Caesar's  heart,  31 

Crying, '  Long  live !  Hail,  Caesar !' 

Cassius.  Antony, 

The  posture  of  your  blows  are  yet  unknown  ; 
But  for  your  words,  they  rob  the  Hybla  bees, 
And  leave  them  honeyless. 

Antony.  Not  stingless  too. 

Brutus.  O,  yes,  and  soundless  too  ; 


ACT   V.     SCENE  I.  m 

For  you  have  stolen  their  buzzing,  Antony, 
And  very  wisely  threat  before  you  sting. 

Antony.  Villains,  you  did  not  so  when  your  vile  daggers 
Hack'd  one  another  in  the  sides  of  Caesar:  40 

You  show'd  your  teeth  like  apes,  and  fawn'd  like  hounds, 
And  bow'd  like  bondmen,  kissing  Caesar's  feet, 
Whilst  damned  Casca,  like  a  cur,  behind, 
Struck  Caesar  on  the  neck.     O  you  flatterers ! 

Cassius.  Flatterers ! — Now,  Brutus,  thank  yourself; 
This  tongue  had  not  offended  so  to-day, 
If  Cassius  might  have  rul'd. 

Odavius.  Come,  come,  the  cause ;  if  arguing  make  us  sweat, 
The  proof  of  it  will  turn  to  redder  drops. 
Look,  I  draw  a  sword  against  conspirators;  50 

When  think  you  that  the  sword  goes  up  again  ? 
Never,  till  Caesar's  three  and  thirty  wounds 
Be  welj  aveng'd,  or  till  another  Caesar 
Have  added  slaughter  to  the  sword  of  traitors. 

Brutus.  Caesar,  thou  canst  not  die  by  traitors'  hands, 
Unless  thou  bring'st  them  with  thee. 

Octavius.  So  I  hope  ; 

I  was  not  born  to  die  on  Brutus'  sword. 

Brutus.  O,  if  thou  wert  the  noblest  of  thy  strain, 
Young  man,  thou  couldst  not  die  more  honourable. 

Cassius.  A  peevish  schoolboy,  worthless  of  such  honour, 
Join'd  with  a  masker  and  a  reveller.  61 

Antony.  Old  Cassius  still ! 

Octavius.  Come,  Antony;  away! — 

Defiance,  traitors,  hurl  we  in  your  teeth. 
If  you  dare  fight  to-day,  come  to  the  field  ; 
If  not,  when  you  have  stomachs. 

[Exeunt  Octavius,  Antony,  and  their  Army. 

Cassius.  Why  now,  blow  wind, swell  billow, and  swim  bark! 
The  storm  is  up,  and  all  is  on  the  hazard. 

Brutus.   Ho,  Lucilius  !  hark,  a  word  with  you. 


112  JULIUS  CALSAR. 

Lucilius.  My  lord  !  [Brutus  and  Lucilius  talk  apart. 

Cassius.   Messala ! 

Messala.  What  says  my  general  ? 

Cassius.  Messala, 

This  is  my  birthday  ;  as  this  very  day  70 

Was  Cassius  born.     Give  me  thy  hand,  Messala ; 
Be  thou  my  witness  that  against  my  will, 
As  Pompey  was,  am  I  compell'd  to  set 
Upon  one  battle  all  our  liberties. 
You  know  that  I  held  Epicurus  strong, 
And  his  opinion  j  now  I  change  my  mind, 
And  partly  credit  things  that  do  presage. 
Coming  from  Sardis,  on  our  former  ensign 
Two  mighty  eagles  fell,  and  there  they  perch'd, 
Gorging  and  feeding  from  our  soldiers'  hands,  So 

Who  to  Philippi  here  consorted  us: 
This  morning  are  they  fled  away  and  gone, 
And  in  their  steads  do  ravens,  crows,  and  kites 
Fly  o'er  our  heads  and  downward  look  on  us, 
As  we  were  sickly  prey  ;  their  shadows  seem 
A  canopy  most  fatal,  under  which 
Our  army  lies,  ready  to  give  up  the  ghost. 

Messala.  Believe  not  so. 

Cassius.  I  but  believe  it  partly, 

For  I  am  fresh  of  spirit  and  resolv'd 
To  meet  all  perils  very  constantly.  90 

Brutus.  Even  so,  Lucilius. 

Cassius.  Now,  most  noble  Brutus, 

The  gods  to-day  stand  friendly,  that  we  may, 
Lovers  in  peace,  lead  on  our  days  to  age  ! 
But  since  the  affairs  of  men  rest  still  incertain, 
Let 's  reason  with  the  worst  that  may  befall 
If  we  do  lose  this  battle,  then  is  this 
The  very  last  time  we  shall  speak  together; 
What  are  you  then  determined  to  do? 


ACT  V.     SCEArE  II.  113 

Brutus.  Even  by  the  rule  of  that  philosophy 
By  which  I  did  blame  Cato  for  the  death  100 

Which  he  did  give  himself.     I  know  not  how, 
But  I  do  find  it  cowardly  and  vile, 
For  fear  of  what  might  fall,  so  to  prevent 
The  time  of  life, — arming  myself  with  patience 
To  stay  the  providence  of  some  high  powers 
That  govern  us  below. 

Cassius.  Then,  if  we  lose  this  battle, 

You  are  contented  to  be  led  in  triumph 
Thorough  the  streets  of  Rome  ? 

Brutus.  No,  Cassius,  no  !  think  not,  thou  noble  Roman, 
That  ever  Brutus  will  go  bound  to  Rome  ;  no 

He  bears  too  great  a  mind.     But  this  same  day 
Must  end  that  work  the  ides  of  March  begun  j 
And  whether  we  shall  meet  again  I  know  not. 
Therefore  our  everlasting  farewell  take  ; 
For  ever,  and  for  ever,  farewell,  Cassius  ! 
If  we  do  meet  again,  why,  we  shall  smile  ; 
If  not,  why,  then  this  parting  was  well  made. 

Cassius.  For  ever,  and  for  ever,  farewell,  Brutus  ! 
If  we  do  meet  again,  we  '11  smile  indeed  ; 
If  not,  't  is  true,  this  parting  was  well  made.  120 

Brutus.  Why,  then  lead  on. — O  that  a  man  might  know 
The  end  of  this  day's  business  ere  it  come  ! 
But  it  sufficeth  that  the  day  will  end, 
And  then  the  end  is  known. — Come,  ho  !  away  !       [Exeunt. 

Scene  II.     The  Field  of  Battle. 
Alarum.     Enter  Brutus  and  Messala. 

Brutus.  Ride,  ride,  Messala,  ride,  and  give  these  bills 
Unto  the  legions  on  the  other  side.  \ Loud  alarum. 

Let  them  set  on  at  once ;  for  I  perceive 
But  cold  demeanour  in  Octavius'  wing, 

H 


H4  JULIUS   C&SAR. 

And  sudden  push  gives  them  the  overthrow. 

Ride,  ride,  Messala  j  let  them  all  come  down.  {Exeunt. 


Scene  III.     Another  Part  of  the  Field. 
Alarums.     Enter  Cassius  and  Titinius. 

Cassius.  O,  look,  Titinius,  look,  the  villains  fly  ! 
Myself  have  to  mine  own  turn'd  enemy. 
This  ensign  here  of  mine  was  turning  back  ; 
I  slew  the  coward,  and  did  take  it  from  him. 

Titinius.  O  Cassius,  Brutus  gave  the  word  too  early, 
Who,  having  some  advantage  on  Octavius, 
Took  it  too  eagerly;  his  soldiers  fell  to  spoil, 
Whilst  we  by  Antony  are  all  enclos'd. 

Enter  Pindarus. 

Pindarus.  Fly  further  off,  my  lord,  fly  further  off! 
Mark  Antony  is  in  your  tents,  my  lord  !  10 

Fly,  therefore,  noble  Cassius,  fly  far  off! 

Cassius.  This  hill  is  far  enough. — Look,  look,  Titinius  ; 
Are  those  my  tents  where  I  perceive  the  fire  ? 

Titinius.  They  are,  my  lord. 

Cassius.  Titinius,  if  thou  lov'st  me, 

Mount  thou  my  horse  and  hide  thy  spurs  in  him, 
Till  he  have  brought  thee  up  to  yonder  troops 
And  here  again,  that  I  may  rest  assur'd 
Whether  yond  troops  are  friend  or  enemy. 

litinius.   I  will  be  here  again  even  with  a  thought.    [Exit. 

Cassius.  Go,  Pindarus,  get  higher  on  that  hill  ; 
My  sight  was  ever  thick  ;  regard  Titinius, 
And  tell  me  what  thou  not'st  about  the  field. — 

[Pindarus  go 
This  day  I  breathed  first :  time  is  come  round, 
And  where  I  did  begin,  there  shall  I  end  ; 
My  life  is  run  his  compass. — Sirrah,  what  news? 


ACT  V.     SCENE  III.  115 

Pindarus.  [Above]  O  my  lord  ! 

C as siu s.  What  news? 

Pindarus.  Titinius  is  enclosed  round  about 
With  horsemen  that  make  to  him  on  the  spur;  — 
Yet  he  spurs  on. — Now  they  are  almost  on  him.  30 

Now,  Titinius ! — 
Now  some  light.  —  O,  he  lights  too.  —  He  's  ta'en  ; —  and, 

hark ! 
They  shout  for  joy.  [Shout. 

Cassius.  Come  down,  behold  no  more. — 

O,  coward  that  I  am  to  live  so  long, 
To  see  my  best  friend  ta'en  before  my  face ! 

Pindarus  comes  down. 
Come  hither,  sirrah  ! 
In  Parthia  did  I  take  thee  prisoner  ; 
And  then  I  swore  thee,  saving  of  thy  life, 
That  whatsoever  I  did  bid  thee  do, 

Thou  shouldst  attempt  it.     Come  now,  keep  thine  oath  !     40 
Now  be  a  freeman  ;  and  with  this  good  sword, 
That  ran  through  Caesar's  bowels,  search  this  bosom. 
Stand  not  to  answer  :  here,  take  thou  the  hilts ; 
And  when  my  face  is  cover'd,  as  't  is  now, 
Guide  thou  the  sword. — Caesar,  thou  art  reveng'd, 
Even  with  the  sword  that  kill'd  thee.  [Dies. 

Pindarus.   So,  I  am  free  ;  yet  would  not  so  have  been, 
Durst  I  have  clone  my  will. — O  Cassius ! 
Far  from  this  country  Pindarus  shall  run,  49 

Where  never  Roman  shall  take  note  of  him.  [Exit. 

Enter  Titinius,  with  Mess  a  la. 

Messala.  It  is  but  change,  Titinius  ;  for  Octavius 
Is  overthrown  by  noble  Brutus'  power, 
As  Cassius'  legions  are  by  Antony. 

litinius.  These  tidings  will  well  comfort  Cassius. 


Il6  JULIUS  C&SAR. 

Messala.  Where  did  you  leave  him  ? 

Titinius.  All  disconsolate, 

With  Pindarus  his  bondman,  on  this  hill. 

Messala.  Is  not  that  he  that  lies  upon  the  ground  ? 

Titinius.   He  lies  not  like  the  living.     O  my  heart ! 

Messala.  Is  not  that  he  ? 

Titinius.  No,  this  was  he,  Messala, 

But  Cassius  is  no  more. — O  setting  sun  !  60 

As  in  thy  red  rays  thou  dost  sink  to  night, 
So  in  his  red  blood  Cassius'  day  is  set ; 
The  sun  of  Rome  is  set !     Our  day  is  gone  ; 
Clouds,  dews,  and  dangers  come ;  our  deeds  are  done ! 
Mistrust  of  my  success  hath  done  this  deed. 

Messala.  Mistrust  of  good  success  hath  done  this  deed. 
O  hateful  Error,  Melancholy's  child  ! 
Why  dost  thou  show  to  the  apt  thoughts  of  men 
The  things  that  are  not  ?     O  Error,  soon  conceiv'd, 
Thou  never  com'st  unto  a  happy  birth,  70 

But  kill'st  the  mother  that  engender'd  thee. 

Titinius.  What,  Pindarus!     Where  art  thou,  Pindarus? 

Messala.  Seek  him,  Titinius,  whilst  I  go  to  meet 
The  noble  Brutus,  thrusting  this  report 
Into  his  ears  ; — I  may  say,  thrusting  it, 
For  piercing  steel  and  darts  envenomed 
Shall  be  as  welcome  to  the  ears  of  Brutus 
As  tidings  of  this  sight. 

Titinius.  Hie  you,  Messala, 

And  I  will  seek  for  Pindarus  the  while. —        [Exit  Messala. 
Why  didst  thou  send  me  forth,  brave  Cassius?  fa 

Did  I  not  meet  thy  friends?  and  did  not  they 
Put  on  my  brows  this  wreath  of  victory, 
And  bid  me  give  it  thee?     Didst  thou  not  hear  their  shouts? 
Alas!  thou  hast  misconstrued  every  thing. 
But  hold  thee,  take  this  garland  on  thy  brow; 
Thy  Brutus  bid  me  give  it  thee,  and  I 


ACT  V.    SCENE  IV. 


117 


Will  do  his  bidding. — Brutus,  come  apace, 

And  see  how  I  regarded  Caius  Cassius. — 

By  your  leave,  gods  : — this  is  a  Roman's  part ;  89 

Come,  Cassius'  sword,  and  find  Titinius1  heart.  [Dies. 

Alarum.     Enter  Messala,  with  Brutus,  young  Cato,  Stra- 
to,  Volumnius,  and  Lucilius. 

Brutus.  Where,  where,  Messala,  doth  his  body  lie  ? 

Messala.  Lo,  yonder,  and  Titinius  mourning  it. 

Brutus.  Titinius'  face  is  upward. 

Cato.  He  is  slain. 

Brutus.  O  Julius  Caesar,  thou  art  mighty  yet ! 
Thy  spirit  walks  abroad,  and  turns  our  swords 
In  our  own  proper  entrails.  [Low  alarums. 

Cato.  Brave  Titinius ! 

Look,  whether  he  have  not  crown'd  dead  Cassius ! 

Brutus.  Are  yet  two  Romans  living  such  as  these? — 
The  last  of  all  the  Romans,  fare  thee  well ! 
It  is  impossible  that  ever  Rome  100 

Should  breed  thy  fellow. — Friends,  I  owe  moe  tears 
To  this  dead  man  than  you  shall  see  me  pay. — 
I  shall  find  time,  Cassius,  I  shall  find  time. — 
Come,  therefore,  and  to  Thassos  send  his  body  ; 
His  funerals  shall  not  be  in  our  camp, 
Lest  it  discomfort  us. — Lucilius,  come  ; — 
And  come,  young  Cato  ;  let  us  to  the  field. — 
Labeo  and  Flavius,  set  our  battles  on. — 
3T  is  three  o'clock  ;  and,  Romans,  yet  ere  night  109 

We  shall  try  fortune  in  a  second  fight.  [Exeunt. 

Scene  IV.     Another  Part  of  the  Field. 
Alarum.     Enter,  fighting,  Soldiers  of  both  Armies  ;  then  Bru- 
tus, Cato,  Lucilius,  and  others. 
Brutus.  Yet,  countrymen,  O,  yet  hold  up  your  heads  ! 


u8  JULIUS  CALSAR. 

Cato.  What  bastard  doth  not?     Who  will  go  with  me? 
I  will  proclaim  my  name  about  the  field. — 
I  am  the  son  of  Marcus  Cato,  ho ! 
A  foe  to  tyrants,  and  my  country's  friend ; 
I  am  the  son  of  Marcus  Cato,  ho  !  [Charges  the  enemy. 

Brutus.  And  I  am  Brutus,  Marcus  Brutus,  I ; 
Brutus,  my  country's  friend  ;  know  me  for  Brutus ! 

[Exit,  charging  the  enemy.     Cato  is  overpowered,  and 
falls. 

Lucilius.  O  young  and  noble  Cato,  art  thou  down  ? 
Why,  now  thou  diest  as  bravely  as  Titinius,  10 

And  mayst  be  honour'd,  being  Cato's  son. 

i  Soldier.  Yield,  or  thou  diest. 

Lucilius.  Only  I  yield  to  die: 

There  is  so  much  that  thou  wilt  kill  me  straight ; 

[Offering  money. 
Kill  Brutus,  and  be  honour'd  in  his  death. 

i  Soldier.  We  must  not. — A  noble  prisoner ! 

2  Soldier.  Room,  ho  !     Tell  Antony,  Brutus  is  ta'en. 

i  Soldier.  I'll  tell  the  news.  —  Here  comes  the  general. — 

Enter  Antony. 
Brutus  is  ta'en,  Brutus  is  ta'en,  my  lord. 

Antony.  Where  is  he? 

Lucilius.  Safe,  Antony  ;  Brutus  is  safe  enough.  20 

I  dare  assure  thee  that  no  enemy 
Shall  ever  take  alive  the  noble  Brutus ; 
The  gods  defend  him  from  so  great  a  shame ! 
When  you  do  find  him,  or  alive  or  dead, 
He  will  be  found  lfke  Brutus,  like  himself. 

Antony.  This  is  not  Brutus,  friend,  but,  I  assure  you, 
A  prize  no  less  in  worth.     Keep  this  man  safe, 
Give  him  all  kindness  ;  I  had  rather  have 
Such  men  my  friends  than  enemies.     Go  on, 
And  see  whether  Brutus  be  alive  or  dead. 


ACT  V.     SCENE    V. 


119 


And  bring  us  word  unto  Octavius'  tent 

How  every  thing  is  chanc'd.  [Exeunt. 

Scene  V.     Another  Part  of  the  Field. 
Enter  Brutus,  Dardanius,  Clitus,  Strato,  and  Volumnius. 

Brutus.  Come,  poor  remains  of  friends,  rest  on  this  rock. 

Clitus.   Statilius  show'd  the  torch-light,  but,  my  lord, 
He  came  not  back ;  he  is  or  ta'en  or  slain. 

Brutus.  Sit  thee  down,  Clitus.     Slaying  is  the  word  ; 
It  is  a  deed  in  fashion.     Hark  thee,  Clitus. —     [  Whispering. 

Clitus.  What !  I,  my  lord  ?     No,  not  for  all  the  world. 

Brutus.  Peace  then  !  no  words. 

Clitus.  I  '11  rather  kill  myself. 

Brutus.  Hark  thee,  Dardanius  !  [  Whispers  him. 

Dardanius.  Shall  I  do  such  a  deed  ? 

Clitus.  O  Dardanius ! 

Dardanius.  O  Clitus  !  10 

Clitus.  What  ill  request  did  Brutus  make  to  thee? 

Dardanius.  To  kill  him,  Clitus.     Look,  he  meditates. 

Clitus.  Now  is  that  noble  vessel  full  of  grief, 
That  it  runs  over  even  at  his  eyes. 

Brutus.   Come  hither,  good  Volumnius  ;  list  a  word. 

Volumnius.  What  says  my  lord  ? 

Brutus.  Why,  this,  Volumnius  : 

The  ghost  of  Caesar  hath  appear'd  to  me 
Two  several  times  by  night ;  at  Sardis  once, 
And  this  last  night  here  in  Philippi  fields. 
I  know  my  hour  is  come. 

Volumnius.  Not  so,  my  lord.  20 

Brutus.  Nay,  I  am  sure  it  is,  Volumnius. 
Thou  seest  the  world,  Volumnius,  how  it  goes  ; 
Our  enemies  have  beat  us  to  the  pit :  [Low  alarums. 

It  is  more  worthy  to  leap  in  ourselves 
Than  tarry  till  they  push  us.     Good  Volumnius, 


120  JULIUS  CAESAR. 

Thou  know'st  that  we  two  went  to  school  together ; 
Even  for  that  our  love  of  old,  I  prithee, 
Hold  thou  my  sword-hilts  whilst  I  run  on  it. 

Volumnius.  That 's  not  an  office  for  a  friend,  my  lord. 

{Alarum  still. 

Clilus.  Fly,  fly,  my  lord  !  there  is  no  tarrying  here.  *> 

Brutus.  Farewell  toyou; — and  you; — and  you, Volumnius. — 
Strato,  thou  hast  been  all  this  while  asleep ; 
Farewell  to  thee  too,  Strato. — Countrymen, 
My  heart  doth  joy  that  yet  in  all  my  life 
I  found  no  man  but  he  was  true  to  me. 
I  shall  have  glory  by  this  losing  day, 
More  than  Octavius  and  Mark  Antony 
By  this  vile  conquest  shall  attain  unto. 
So,  fare  you  well  at  once  ;  for  Brutus'  tongue 
Hath  almost  ended  his  life's  history.  40 

Night  hangs  upon  my  eyes ;  my  bones  would  rest, 
That  have  but  labour'd  to  attain  this  hour. 

[Alarum.     Cry  within, l  Fiy,  fly,  fly  !' 

Clitus.  Fly,  my  lord,  fly ! 

Brutus.  Hence,  I  will  follow. — 

[Exeunt  Clitus,  Dardanius,  and  Volumnius. 
I  prithee,  Strato,  stay  thou  by  thy  lord. 
Thou  art  a  fellow  of  a  good  respect ; 
Thy  life  hath  had  some  smatch  of  honour  in  it: 
Hold  then  my  sword,  and  turn  away  thy  face 
While  I  do  run  upon  it.     Wilt  thou,  Strato  ? 

Strato.  Give  me  your  hand  first ;  fare  you  well,  my  lord. 

Brutus.  Farewell,  good  Strato. — Caesar,  now  be  still  \      5.> 
I  kill'd  not  thee  with  half  so  good  a  will. 

[He  runs  on  his  sword,  and  dies. 

Ala/ urn.     Retreat.     Enter  Octavius,  Antony,  Messala, 

Luc  1  li  us,  and  the  Army. 
Octavius.  What  man  is  that  ? 


ACT  V.     SCENE   V.  I2i 

Messala.  My  master's  man. — Strato,  where  is  thy  master? 

Strato.   Free  from  the  bondage  you  are  in,  Messala: 
The  conquerors  can  but  make  a  fire  of  him  ; 
For  Brutus  only  overcame  himself, 
And  no  man  else  hath  honour  by  his  death. 

Lucilius.  So  Brutus  should  be  found. — I  thank  thee,  Brutus, 
That  thou  hast  prov'd  Lucilius'  saying  true. 

Octavins.  All  that  serv'd  Brutus,  I  will  entertain  them.    60 
Fellow,  wilt  thou  bestow  thy  time  with  me? 

Strato.  Ay,  if  Messala  will  prefer  me  to  you. 

Octavius.  Do  so,  good  Messala. 

Messala.  How  died  my  master,  Strato  ? 

Strato.  I  held  the  sword,  and  he  did  run  on  it. 

Messala.  Octavius,  then  take  him  to  follow  thee, 
That  did  the  latest  service  to  my  master. 

Antony.  This  was  the  noblest  Roman  of  them  all. 
All  the  conspirators,  save  only  he, 

Did  that  they  did  in  envy  of  great  Caesar  j  70 

He  only,  in  a  general  honest  thought 
And  common  good  to  all,  made  one  of  them. 
His  life  was  gentle,  and  the  elements 
So  mix'd  in  him  that  Nature  might  stand  up 
And  say  to  all  the  world,  'This  was  a  man  !' 

Octavius.  According  to  his  virtue  let  us  use  him, 
With  all  respect  and  rites  of  burial. 
Within  my  tent  his  bones  to-night  shall  lie, 
Most  like  a  soldier,  ordered  honourably. — 
So,  call  the  field  to  rest,  and  let 's  away,  80 

To  part  the  glories  of  this  happy  day.  [Exeunt. 


COIN    OF   THE   TKIUMVIKS. 


ROMAN    MATRON. 


NOTES. 


ABBREVIATIONS  USED  IN  THE  NOTES. 

Abbott  (or  Gr.),  Abbott's  Shakespearian  Grammar  (third  edition). 
A.  S.,  Anglo-Saxon. 

A.  V.,  Authorized  Version  of  the  Bible  (1611). 

B.  and  F.,  Beaumont  and  Fletcher. 
B.  J.,  Ben  Jonson. 

Camb.  ed.,  "  Cambridge  edition  "  of  Shakespeare,  edited  by  Clark  and  Wright. 

Cf.  (confer),  compare. 

Clarke,  "  Cassells  Illustrated  Shakespeare,"  edited  by  Charles  and  Mary  Cowden- 
Clarke  (London,  n.  d.). 

Coll.,  Collier  (second  edition). 

Coll.  MS.,  Manuscript  Corrections  of  Second  Folio,  edited  by  Collier. 

Craik,  Craik's  English  of Shakespeare  (Rolfe's  edition). 

D.,  Dyce  (second  edition). 

H.,  Hudson  ("  Harvard"  edition). 

Halliwell,  J.  O.  Halliwell  (folio  ed.  of  Shakespeare). 

Id.  (idem),  the  same. 

K.,  Knight  (second  edition). 

N.,  North's  Plutarch. 

Nares,  Glossary,  edited  by  Halliwell  and  Wright  (London,  1859). 

Pro!.,  Prologue. 

Rich.,  Richardson's  Dictionary  (London,  1838). 

S.,  Shakespeare. 

Schmidt,  A.  Schmidt's  Shakespeare- Lex  icon  (Berlin,  1874). 

Sr.,  Singer. 

St.,  Staunton. 

Theo.,  Theobald. 

V.,  Verplanck. 

W.,  R.  Grant  White. 

Walker,  Wm.  Sidney  Walker's  Critical  Examination  of  the  Text  of  Shakespeare 
(London,  i860). 

Warb.,  Warburton. 

Wb.,  Webster's  Dictionary  (revised  quarto  edition  of  1879). 

Wore,  Worcester's  Dictionary  (quarto  edition). 

Wr.,  W.  A.  Wright's  "  Clarendon  Press"  ed.  of  J.  C.  (Oxford,  1878). 

The  abbreviations  of  the  names  of  Shakespeare's  Plays  will  be  readily  understood;  as 
T.  N.  for  Twelfth  Night,  Cor.  for  Coriolanus,  3  Hen.  VI.  for  The  Third  Part  of  King 
Henry  the  Sixth,  etc.  /'.  P.  refers  to  The  Passionate  Pilgrim  ;  V.  and  A.  to  I  enus 
and  Adonis  ;  L.  C.  to  Lover's  Complaint ;  and  Sonn.  to  the  Sonnets. 

When  the  abbreviation  of  the  name  of  a  play  is  followed  by  a  reference  to  Page, 
Rolte's  edition  of  the  play  is  meant. 
The  numbers  of  the  lines  (except  for  the  present  play)  are  those  of  the  "Globe"  ed. 


NOTES. 


PLEBEIANS. 


ACT  I. 

Scene  I. — In  the  folio  of  1623  the  play  is  divided  into  acts,  but  not  into 
scenes,  and  there  is  no  list  of  dramatis  persouce.  The  heading  of  Act  I. 
is  as  follows  :  "  Actus  Primus.  Sccena  Prima.  Enter  Flauius,  Afwel- 
his,  and  certaine  Commoners  oner  the  Stage.''1  The  spelling  Mure/Ins  is 
found  throughout  the  play,  except  in  one  instance  (i.  2. 278),  where  we  find 
"  Murrellus  and  Flauius,  for  pulling  Scarffes  off  Casars  Images,  are  put  to 
silence."     The  name  in  N.  is  Marullus,  and  Theo.  corrected  it  here. 

3.  Being  mechanical.  "  Cobblers,  tapsters,  or  such  like  base  mechan- 
ical people"  (N.).  S.  uses  both  mechanic  and  mechanical  as  noun  and 
as  adjective.  Cf.  M.  N.  D.  iii.  2.  9  :  "rude  mechanicals  ;"  2  Hen.  IV.  v. 
5*38:  "by  most  mechanical  and  dirty  hand;"  Cor.  v.  3.  83  :  "Rome's 
mechanics  ;"  A.  and  C.  v.  2.  209 :   "  mechanic  slaves." 


126  XOTRS. 

Ought  not  walk.     On  the  omission  of  to,  see  Or.  349. 

4.  A  labouring  day.  As  Craik  remarks,  labouring  here  is  not  the  par- 
ticiple, but  the  verbal  noun  (or  gerund)  used  as  an  adjective.  Cf.  the 
expressions  a  Walking-stick,  a  7vriting-desk,  etc.  The  participle  in  -lug 
is  active,  and  it  remains  so  when  used  as  an  adjective  ;  as  in  a  labouring 
man,  etc.  When  used  as  a  noun,  which  rarely  occurs  in  English,  it  de- 
notes the  agent.  Thus  "  the  erring  "  means  those  who  err,  as  amans  in 
Latin  means  a  lover.  The  verbal  noun  in  -ing,  on  the  other  hand,  de- 
notes the  act  (as  "labouring  is  wearisome  "),  like  the  Latin  gerund  amandi, 
etc.  This  verbal  noun  is  commonly  called  a  "participial  noun"  in  the 
grammars,  but  it  has  no  etymological  connection  with  the  participle.  In 
early  English  (as  in  A.  S.)  the  two  had  different  forms.  The  ending  of 
the  participle  was  aude  (and),  ende  (end),  or  inde,  and  that  of  the  verbal 
noun  was  ing  or  ung ;  but  the  former  went  out  of  use,  and  the  latter 
came  to  do  service  for  both.  This  change  began  before  the  year  1300, 
but  in  the  time  of  Chaucer  the  old  participial  ending  was  still  occasion- 
ally used,  and  it  is  found  in  Scotch  writers  even  to  the  end  of  the  six- 
teenth century. 

The  following  are  examples  of  the  participle  and  the  verbal  noun  used 
with  their  appropriate  endings  in  the  same  sentence  : 

"  Hors,  or  hund,  or  othir  thing 
That  war  plesawr/  to  their  Viking." — Barbour  (1357). 

"  Full  low  mcWnand  to  their  queen  full  clear 
Whom  for  their  noble  nourish/«£-  they  thank." — Dunbar  (Ellis's  Spec). 

5.  What  trade  art  thou  ?  Either  trade  is  equivalent  to  tradesman  (as 
Craik  makes  it),  or  o/\s  understood.  Cf.  Gr.  202.  On  the  use  of  thou 
and  you  in  S.,  see  Gr.  232. 

6.  1  Citizen.  The  folio  has  "  Car."  (that  is,  Carpenter),  and  for  2  Citizen 
either  "  Cobl."  or  "  Cob."  (Cobbler). 

12.  Answer  me  directly.  That  is,  explicitly,  without  ambiguity.  Cf.  hi. 
3.  9  below.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  cobbler  meant  not  only  a 
mender  of  shoes,  but  a  clumsy  workman  at  any  trade  ;  and  the  latter 
sense  is  not  wholly  unknown  even  now. 

14.  A  mender  of  bad  soles.  For  the  quibble,  cf.  M.  of  V.  iv.  1.  123  : 
"Not  on  thy  sole,  but  on  thy  soul,  harsh  Jew."  Malone  quotes  Fletch- 
er's Woman  Pleased: 

"If  thou  dost  this,  there  shall  be  no  more  shoe-mending; 
Every  man  shall  have  a  special  care  of  his  own  soul, 
And  carry  in  his  pocket  bit  two  confessors." 

15.  What  trade,  thou  knave  ?  The  folio  gives  this  speech  to  Flavins,  but 
the  "Mend  me,  thou  saucy  fellow?"  shows  that  it  belongs  to  Manillus. 

16.  Be  not  out  with  me,  etc.  The  play  upon  out  with  and  out  (at  the 
toes)  is  obvious. 

24.  But  withal,  etc.  This  is  the  folio  reading,  and  may  well  enough 
be  retained.  "  What  the  cobbler  means  to  say  is,  that  although  he  med- 
dles not  with  tradesmen's  matters  or  women's  matters,  he  is  withal  (mak- 
ing at  the  same  time  his  little  pun)  a  surgeon  to  old  shoes"  (\\\).  K. 
and  Coll.  print  "but  with  all.  I  am,"  etc.  D.,  the  Camb.  ed.,  and  H. 
have  "but  with  awl.      I  am,"  etc. 


ACT  /.     SCENE   I. 


127 


25.  As  proper  met/,  etc.  See  M.  of  V.  p.  132  (note  on  ^  proper  mini's 
picture),  and  cf.  Temp.  ii.  2.  62  :  "  as  proper  a  man  as  ever  went  on  four 
legs  ;"  and  Id.  ii.  2.  73  :  "any  emperor  that  ever  trod  on  neat's  leather." 

31.  His  triumph.  This  was  in  honour  of  his  successes  in  Spain, 
whence  he  had  returned  late  in  the  preceding  September,  after  defeating 
the  sons  of  Pompey  at  the  battle  of  Munda  (March  17th,  B.C.  45).  It 
was  Cassar's  fifth  and  last  triumph. 

37.  Many  a  time.  Trench  {English  Past  and  Present)  explains  "many 
a  man  "  as  a  corruption  of  "  many  of  men  ;"  but  Abbott  (Gr.  85)  shows 
that  the  "  many  "  is  probably  used  as  an  adverb.  Cf.  the  German  man- 
cher  (adj.)  Mann  with  manch  (adv.)  ein  Mann,  etc.  In  A.  S.  the  idiom 
was  many  man,  not  many  a  man. 

42.  Pass  the  streets.  Cf.  T.  G.  of  V.  iv.  3.  24 :  "  the  ways  are  dangerous 
to  pass."     See  Gr.  198. 

43.  And  when  you  saw  his  chariot  but  appear.  That  is,  saw  but  his 
chariot  appear.     See  Gr.  129  and  420. 

45.  That  Tiber  trembled,  etc.  On  this  common  ellipsis  of  so  before 
that,  see  Gr.  283.  The  river  is  here  personified  as  feminine  ;  as  in  i.  2. 
101  below  (see  note  there).     Cf.  Milton,  /'.  L.  iii.  359: 


r^ffi 


ROMAN    HIGHWAY    ON    THE    BANKS    OF    THE    TIBER. 


128  NOTES. 

M  the  river  of  bliss  through  midst  of  Heaven 
Rolls  o'er  Elysian  flowers  her  amber  stream." 

51.  Replication  of.     Reply  to,  echo  of. 

52.  Be  gone!     On  these  brief  "  interjectional  lines,"  see  Gr.  512. 

58.  Tiber  banks.  This  use  of  proper  names  as  adjectives  is  common 
in  S.     Cf.  v.  5.  19  below  :  "  Here  in  Philippi  fields."     See  Gr.  22. 

61.  Whether.  The  folio  prints  "where"  here,  as  in  v.  4.  30  below  ,  but 
it  often  has  whether  when  the  word  is  a  monosyllable  (see  on  ii.  I.  194 
below).     Cf.  Gr.  466.     Some  modern  eds.  read  "  whe'r  "  or  "  wher." 

Metal.  Used  interchangeably  with  mettle  in  the  early  eds.  See  K. 
John,  p.  148. 

65.  Deck?d  with  ceremonies.  This  is  the  reading  of  the  folio,  and  is 
retained  by  all  the  editors  except  W.  and  H.,  who  have  "ceremony." 
Ceremonies  may  mean  "  honorary  ornaments  "  (Malone),  or  what  are  after- 
wards called  "Caesar's  trophies,"  and  described  as  "scarfs"  hung  on  his 
images.    Wr.  compares  Hen.  V.  iv.  1.  109  :  "  his  ceremonies  laid  by,"  etc. 

67.  The  feast  of  Lupercal.  The  Lupercal  was  a  cavern  in  the  Palatine 
Hill,  sacred  to  Lupercus,  the  old  Italian  god  of  fertility,  who  came  to  be 
identified  with  Pan.     Thus  Virgil  (/En.  viii.  344)  speaks  of  the  place  as 

"sub  rupe  Lupercal 
Parrhasio  dictum  Panos  de  more  Lycaei." 

Here  the  feast  of  the  Lupercalia  was  held  every  year,  in  the  month  of 
February.  After  certain  sacrifices  and  other  rites,  the  Lnperci  (or  priests 
of  Lupercus)  ran  through  the  city  wearing  only  a  cincture  of  goatskin,  and 
striking  with  leather  thongs  all  whom  they  met.  This  performance  was 
a  symbolic  purification  of  the  land  and  the  people.  The  festal  day  was 
called  dies februata  (from  februare,  to  purify),  the  month  in  which  it  oc- 
curred Fehiiarius,  and  the  god  himself  Februns. 

73.  Pitch.  A  technical  term  for  the  height  to  which  a  falcon  soars. 
See  Rich.  II.  p.  153. 

Scene  II. — The  heading  in  the  folio  is,  "Enter  Casar,  Antony  for  the 
Course,  Calphurnia,  Portia,  Decius,'  Cicero,  Brutus,  Cassius,  Cas/ca,  a 
Soothsayer:  after  them  Mnrellus  and  Flaunts."  Calphurnia  is  the  name 
of  Caesar's  wife  throughout  the  play,  and  also  in  N.  (eds.  of  1579  and 
1612*),  though  Craik  and  W.  say  that  it  is  Calpumia  in  the  latter  author- 
ity.    Calpumia  was  the  classical  form  of  the  name. 

Decius.  His  true  name  was  Decimus  Brutus.  "  The  error,  however, 
is  as  old  as  the  edition  of  Plutarch's  Greek  text  produced  by  Henry  Ste- 
phens in  1572  ;  and  it  occurs  likewise  in  the  accompanying  Latin  transla- 
tion, and  both  in  Amyot's  and  Dacier's  French,  as  well  as  in  North's  Eng- 
lish. It  is  also  found  in  Philemon  Holland's  translation  of  Suetonius, 
published  in  1606.  Lord  Stirling,  in  his  Julitis  Orsar,  probably  misled 
in  like  manner  by  North,  has  fallen  into  the  same  mistake"  (Craik).  I: 
may  be  noted,  also,  that  it  was  this  Decimus  BnitUS  who  had  been  the 
spec  ial  favourite  of  Cxsar,  and  not  Marcus  Junius  Brutus,  as  represented 
in  the  play. 

•  In  some  later  editions  (as  in  that  of  1676)  the  name  is  changed  to  Caljmrnia. 


ACT  I.    SCENE  II.  I29 

3.  In  Antonius*  tvay.  The  folio  has  "in  Antonio's  way  ;"  and  in  other 
names  ending  in  -ins  it  often  gives  the  Italian  form  in  -io,  which  was  more 
familiar  to  the  actors  of  the  time. 

Antony  was  the  head  or  chief  of  a  third  "  college  "  of  Luperci  that  had 
been  added  to  the  original  two  in  honour  of  Caesar. 

4.  When  he  doth  run  his  course.  Cf.  N.*  {Life  of  Ccesar)  :  "  At  that 
time  the  feast  Lupercalia  was  celebrated,  the  which  in  old  time,  men  say, 
was  the  feast  of  Shephfiards  or  Herdmen,  and  is  much  like  unto  the  feast 
of  Lycaeians  in  Arcadia.  But,  howsoever  it  is,  that  day  there  are  divers 
noble  men's  sons,  young  men  (and  some  of  them  Magistrates  themselves 
that  govern  them),  which  run  naked  through  the  City,  striking  in  sport 
them  they  meet  in  their  way  with  Leather  thongs,  hair  and  all  on,  to 
make  them  give  place.  And  many  noble  Women  and  Gentlewomen 
also,  go  of  purpose  to  stand  in  their  way,  and  do  put  forth  their  hands 
to  be  stricken,  as  Scholars  hold  them  out  to  their  Schoolmaster,  to  be 
stricken  with  the  ferula  ;  perswading  themselves  that,  being  with  Child, 
they  shall  have  good  delivery;  and  so,  being  barren,  that  it  will  make 
them  to  conceive  with  Child.  .  .  .  Antonius,  who  was  Consull  at  that  time, 
was  one  of  them  that  ran   this  holy  course." 

ir.  Set  on.  Set  out,  proceed.  Cf.  v.  2.  3  below ;  and  see  Hen.  VIII. 
p.  180. 

15.  Press.     Crowd.     Cf.  R.  of  L.  1301,  1408,  etc.  ;  also  Mark,  ii.  4. 

17.  Ides  of  March.  In  the  Roman  calendar  the  Ides  fell  on  the  15th 
of  March,  May,  July,  and  October,  and  the  13th  of  the  other  months. 

18.  A  soothsayer  bids.  Some  put  a  comma  after  soothsayer,  as  if  there 
were  an  ellipsis  of  who  (Gr.  244).     On  the  measure,  see  Gr.  460. 

23.  Sennet.  A  particular  set  of  notes  on  a  trumpet.  See  Hen.  VIII. 
p.  176. 

27.  Quick.     Lively,  sprightly  ;  as  in  Much  Ado,  ii.  1.  399,  v.  2.  II,  etc. 
30.  That  gentleness  .  .  .  as.     See  Gr.  280,  and  cf.  170  below. 

36.  Merely  upon  myself.  Altogether  upon  myself.  See  Temp.  ■p.  Ill, 
note  on  We  are  merely  cheated.  Cf.  Bacon,  Adv.  of  L.  ii.  1.  4:  "narra- 
tions which  are  merely  and  sincerely  natural  ;"  Id.  ii.  25.  9  :  "which  do 
make  men  merely  aliens  and  disincorporate  from  the  Church  of  God ;" 
Essay  27  :  "it  is  a  mere  and  miserable  solitude  to  want  true  friends." 

37.  Passions  of  some  difference.  "  With  a  fluctuation  of  discordant 
opinions  and  desires  "  (Johnson). 

38.  Proper  to  myself.  Peculiar  to  myself;  my  own.  See  Gr.  16,  and 
cf.  Temp.  p.  133,  note  on  Their  proper  selves. 

39.  Behaviours.  For  the  plural,  cf.  Much  Ado,  ii.  3.  9,  100,  L.  L.  L.  ii. 
I.  234,  etc. 

45.  Mistook  your  passion.  See  M.  of  V.  p.  141  (note  on  Not  undertook) 
or  Gr.  343.     On  passion  =  feeling,  see  M.  of  V.  p.  157. 

47.  Cogitations.  Thoughts.  Cf.  Bacon,  Adv.  of  L.  i.  introd. :  "  I  may 
excite  your  princely  cogitations  to  visit  the  excellent  treasure  of  your 
own  mind,"  etc.     See  also  Dan.  vii.  28. 

49.   The  eye  sees  not  itself.     Cf.  T  and  C.  iii.  3.  106 : 

*  All  our  quotations  from  North's  Plutarch  are  from  the  edition  of  1676. 
I 


!3o  NOTES. 

"nor  doth  the  eve  itself. 
That  most  pure  spirit  of  sense,  behold  itself." 

Steevens  quotes  Sir  John  Davies,  Nosce  Teipsum  (1599) : 

— "  the  mind  is  like  the  eye, 

Not  seeing  itself,  when  other  things  it  sees." 

50.  But  by  reflection  by  some  other  things.  This  is  the  folio  reading, 
retained  by  K.  and  Wr.  Pope  reads  "  from  some  other  things  ;"  1).  and 
H.  have  "from  some  other  thing;"  and  W.,  "by  some  other  thing." 
If  by  is  what  S.  wrote,  it  is  probably  equivalent  to  "by  means  of"  or 
"  from."  Cf.  the  peculiar  uses  of  by  noted  in  Gr.  146.  Even  now  we 
may  say  "being  reflected  by  some  other  thing." 

52.  Mirrors.     Walker,  D.,  and  II.  read  "mirror." 

54.  The  best  respect.  The  highest  respectability  or  estimation.  Cf.  v. 
5.  45  below. 

62.  Therefore,  good  Brutus,  etc.  "  The  eager,  impatient  temper  of  Cas- 
sius,  absorbed  in  his  own  idea,  is  vividly  expressed  by  his  thus  continu- 
ing his  argument  as  if  without  appearing  to  have  even  heard  Brutus's 
interrupting  question  ;  for  such  is  the  only  interpretation  which  his  there- 
fore would  seem  to  admit  of"  (Craik). 

67.  Jealous  on  trie.  Distrustful  or  suspicious  of  me.  See  M.  of  V.  p. 
143  (note  on  Glad  on  7),  or  Gr.  180. 

68.  A  common  laugher.  The  folio  has  "common  laughter."  Pope 
substituted  laugher,  which  has  been  adopted  by  all  the  more  recent  edit- 
ors. Wr.,  however,  thinks  "laughter"  may  be  right  (  —  laughing-stock). 
As  Craik  remarks,  "neither  word  seems  to  be  perfectly  satisfactory." 
A  friend  suggests  "lover"  as  being  in  harmony  with  the  context. 

69.  To  stale  with  ordinary  oaths,  etc.  Johnson  (followed  by  W.)  ex- 
plains this,  "  to  invite  every  new  protester  to  my  affection  by  the  stale,  or 
allurement,  of  customary  oaths."  On  this  sense  of  stale,  see  Temp.  p.  137. 
But  here  (as  Craik  suggests)  the  word  doubtless  means  "to  make  stale," 
or  common.  Cf.  iv.  1.  38  below  :  "stal'd  by  other  men  ;"  A.  and  C.  ii.  2. 
240  :  "  Age  cannot  wither  her,  nor  custom  stale  Her  infinite  variety,"  etc. 

72.  Scandal.  Defame,  traduce.  Cf.  Cor.  iii.  1. 44  :  "  Scandal'd  the  sup- 
pliants for  the  people,"  etc.  See  also  Temp.  p.  136.  On  the  adverbial 
after,  see  Gr.  26. 

73.  Profess  myself.     "Make  protestations  of  friendship"  (Schmidt). 

81.  Toward.  Wr.  believes  that  the  word,  when  a  dissyllable,  is  always 
accented  by  S.  on  the  first  syllable  ;  not  only  here,  but  in  L.  L.  L.  v.  2. 
92,  M.  of  V.  v.  I.  5,  and  A.  and  C.  iii.  10.  31. 

82.  Set  honour  in  one  eye,  etc.  Johnson  explains  this  as  follows: 
"  When  Brutus  first  names  honour  and  death,  he  calmly  declares  them 
indifferent,  but  as  the  image  kindles  in  his  mind,  he  sets  honour  above 
life."  Coleridge  says:  "  \\  'arbui  ton  would  read  death  for  both;  but  I 
prefer  the  old  text.  There  are  here  three  things — the  public  good,  the 
individual  Brutus's  honour,  and  his  death.  The  latter  two  so  Ixilanced 
each  other  that  he  could  decide  for  the  first  by  equipoise;  nay — the 
thought  growing — that  honour  had  more  weight  than  death.  That  Cas- 
sins  understood  it  as  Warbuiton  is  the  beauty  ofCassius  as  contrasted 


ACT  I.     SCENE  II. 


J3i 


with  Brutus."  Craik  remarks :  "  Tt  does  not  seem  to  be  necessary  to 
suppose  any  such  change  or  growth  either  of  the  image  or  the  sentiment. 
What  Brutus  means  by  saying  that  he  will  look  upon  honour  and  death 
indifferently,  if  they  present  themselves  together,  is  merely  that,  for  the 
sake  of  the  honour,  he  will  not  mind  the  death,  or  the  risk  of  death,  by 
which  it  may  be  accompanied  ;  he  will  look  as  fearlessly  and  steadily 
upon  the  one  as  upon  the  other.  He  will  think  the  honour  to  be  cheaply 
purchased  even  by  the  loss  of  life  ;  that  price  will  never  make  him  falter 
or  hesitate  in  clutching  at  such  a  prize.  He  must  be  understood  to  set 
honour  above  life  from  the  first ;  that  he  should  ever  have  felt  otherwise 
for  a  moment  would  have  been  the  height  of  the  unheroic." 

On  indifferently,  cf.  Bacon,  Adv.  of  L.  ii.  introd.  :  "  I  for  my  part  shall 
be  indifferently  glad  either  to  perform  myself,  or  accept  from  another, 
that  duty  of  humanity."     See  also  Cor.  ii.  2.  19. 

84.  Speed.     Prosper  ;  as  in  ii.  4.  41  below. 

87.  Your  outward  favour.  Your  face,  or  personal  appearance.  Cf.  ii. 
I.  76  below  ;  and  Bacon,  Ess.  27  (ed.  of  1625) :  "  For,  as  S.  James  saith, 
they  are  as  Men,  that  looke  sometimes  into  a  Glasse,  and  presently  forget 
their  own  Shape,  dr>  Favour.''''     See  also  Proverbs,  xxxi.  30. 

97.  The  troubled  Tiber  chafing,  etc.  See  Gr.  376.  Chafe  (the  Latin 
calefacere,  through  the  Fr.  echauffer  and  chauffer)  meant,  first,  to  warm  ; 
then,  to  warm  by  rubbing;  and  then  simply  to  rub — either  literally,  as 
here,  or  in  a  figurative  sense  =to  irritate;  as  in  Hen.  VIII.  i.  I.  123: 
"  What,  are  you  chaf'd  ?"     Cf.  2  Sam.  xvii.  8. 

Here,  as  in  i.  1.  45  above,  some  editors  have  changed  her  to  "his,"  be- 
cause Tiber  is  masculine  in  Latin  ;  but,  as  Craik  remarks,  "  this  is  to  give 
us  both  language  and  a  conception  different  from  Shakespeare's."  It  was 
not  the  Roman  river-god  that  he  had  in  mind  in  these  personifications  of 
the  stream. 


THE    KIVER-GOD    TIBER. 


132 


NOTES. 


104.  With  lusty  sinews.  With  vigorous  sinews.  Cf.  Temp.  ii.  1.  119  :  "in 
lusty  stroke,"  etc.  Lusty  is  "from  the  Saxon  lust  \\\  its  primary sense  <>f 
eager  desire,  or  intense  longing,  indicating  a  corresponding  intensity  of 
bodily  vigour"  {Bible  Word-Book).     See  Judges,  iii.  29. 

105.  Hearts  of  controversy.  "  With  courage  that  opposed  and  contend- 
ed with  the  violence  of  the  stream"  (Wr.). 

106.  Arrive.  Cf.  3  lieu.  VI.  v.  3.  8 :  "have  arriv'd  our  coast;"  Mil- 
ton, P.  L.  ii.  409  :  "  Ere  he  arrive  The  happy  isle."     See  Gr.  198. 

118.  His  ccnoard  lips,  etc.  "There  can,  I  think,  be  no  question  that 
Warburton  is  right  in  holding  that  we  have  here  a  pointed  allusion  to  a 
soldier  flying  from  his  colours.  .  .  .  The  figure  is  quite  in  Shakespeare's 
manner  and  spirit"  (Craik). 

119.  And  that  same  eye  whose  bend,  etc.  Cf.  Cymb.  i.  1.  13:  "wear 
their  faces  to  the  bent  Of  the  king's  looks."  Bend  occurs  elsewhere 
only  in  A.  and  C.  ii.  2.  213  (see  our  ed.  p.  183). 

120.  His  lustre.     That  is,  its  lustre.     See  Gr.  228. 

125.  Of  such  a  feeble  temper.  That  is,  "  temperament,  constitution" 
(D.).     Cf.  M.  of  V.  i.  2.  20  :  "  a  hot  temper  leaps  o'er  a  cold  decree,"  etc. 

131.  Man.  "  Cassius  grows  more  familiar  as  Brutus  is  more  moved" 
(Wr.). 

138.  What  should  be  in  that  Ccvsar?     On  should,  see  Gr.  325. 

139.  More  than  yours.  In  the  folio,  "more  then  yours;"  and  then  is 
the  invariable  form  in  that  edition,  as  in  Bacon,  Hooker,  etc.     I 

had  varied.     Wiclif  has  than  for  both  than  and  then,  while  Tvndale  has 
then  for  both.    Milton  has  than  for  then  in  the  Hymn  on  the  Nativity,  88  ; 

"  Full  little  thought  they  than 
That  the  mighty  Pan 
Was  kindly  come  to  live  with  them  below."1 

T47.  Noble  bloods.  Cf.  iv.  3.  260  below  :  "  young  bloods  ;"  K.  John,  ii. 
I.  278  :  "  As  many  and  as  well-born  bloods,"  etc. 

148.  The  great  flood.  The  deluge  of  Deucalion.  Cf.  W.  T.  iv.  4.  443 
and  Cor.  ii.  I.  102. 

149.  Fam'd  with.     Famed  for,  or  made  famous  by.     Cf.  Gr.  193,  194. 

151.  Wide  zualls.  The  folio  has  "wide  Walkes,"  which  K.  and  St.  re- 
tain.    Coll.,  P.,  W.,  Wr.,  and  II.  adopt  Kowe's  correction  of  "  walls." 

152.  Rome  indeed  and  room  enough.  "  Evidence  this  that '  Rome 
pronounced  room,  or  'room'  rome"  (W.).  Cf.  below,  iii.  1.  290:  "No 
Rome  of  safety  for  Octavius  yet;"  A".  John,  iii.  1.  180 :  "I  have  room 
with  Rome  to  curse  a  while."  St.  quotes  Prime,  Commentary  on  (,'ala- 
tians  (1587):  "Rome  is  too  narrow  a  Room  for  the  Church  of  God." 
In  I  Hen.  VI.  iii.  I.  51,  the  Bishop  of  Winchester  >avs,  "  Rome  shall  rem- 
edy this,"  and  Warwick  replies,  "  Koam  thither  then."  W.  infers  from 
this  play  upon  Rome  and  roam  (together  with  the  fact  that  room  was  often 
spelled  rome)  that  all  three  words  were  pronounced  with  the  long  sound 
of  0  ;  but  it  is  not  impossible  that  oa  was  sometimes  pronounced  00.  In 
our  day  loom  is  the  rustic  pronunciation  of  loam.  It  is  mote  probable, 
however,  that  Craik  and  Karle  {Philology  of  English  'Tongue,  1 S  7 1 )  are 
right  in  assuming  that  in  the  time  of  S.  the  modem  pronunciation  Of  Rome 
was  beginning  to  be  heard,  although  the  other  was  more  common. 


ACT  I.     SCENE  II. 


m 


OLD    WALLS   OF   ROME. 

153.  But  one  only  man.  Cf.  Hooker,  Eccl.  Pol.  i.  25  :  "  one  only  God  ;' 
i.  10.  14:  "one  only  family,"  etc.     Gr.  130. 

155.  There  was  a  Brutus  once.  Lucius  Junius  Brutus,  who  brought 
about  the  expulsion  of  Tarquinius  Superbus.     Cf.  i.  3.  145  below. 

156.  The  eternal  devil.  Johnson  thought  that  S.  wrote  "  infernal  devil." 
Steevens  explains  thus  :  "  L.  J.  Brutus  (says  Cassius)  would  as  soon  have 
submitted  to  the  perpetual  dominion  of  a  demon  as  to  the  lasting  govern- 
ment of  a  king."  Abbott  (Gr.  p.  16)  considers  it  one  of  the  exceptions  to 
the  exactness  with  which  the  poet  used  words  that  were  "the  recent  in- 
ventions of  the  age."  Cf.  Oth.  iv.  2.  130  :  "eternal  villain  ;"  Ham.  v.  2. 
376:  "eternal  cell."     Wr.  compares  the  Yankee  "tarnal." 

Keep  his  state.  Maintain  his  dignity  ;  or,  perhaps,  keep  his  throne. 
Cf.  Macb.  p.  214,  note  on  Her  state. 

158.  Nothing  jealous.  Nowise  doubtful.  Cf.  6j  above  ;  and  see  also 
T.  of  S.  iv.  5.  76 :   "  For  our  first  merriment  hath  made  thee  jealous,"  etc. 

159.  I  have  some  aim.  I  can  partly  guess,  or  conjecture.  Cf.  T.  G.  oj 
V.  iii.  1.  28  :   "  fearing  lest  my  jealous  aim  might  err,"  etc. 


I34  NOTES. 

162.  So  zuith  love.     On  so  (  -if,  provided  that),  see  Gr.  133. 

167.  Chew  upon  this.  "  We  have  lost  the  Saxon  word  in  this  applica- 
tion, but  we  retain  the  metaphor,  only  translating  chezo  into  the  Latin 
equivalent,  ruminate"  (Craik). 

168.  Brutus  had  rather  be,  etc.  See  M.  of  V.  p.  132,  note  on  43.  The 
superlative  rathest  is  found  in  Bacon,  Colours  of  Good  and  Evil,  i.  : 
"  vvhome  next  themselves  they  would  rathest  commend." 

169.  7'hau  to  refute.     See  Temp.  p.  131  (note  on  62),  or  Gr.  350. 

177.  What  hath  proceeded  worthy  note.  What  hath  happened.  On  the 
ellipsis,  see  Gr.  198^. 

178.  Cassius.  Here  a  trisyllable,  as  in  several  other  instances.  See 
Gr.  479. 

182.  Such  ferret  and  such  fiery  eyes.     The  ferret  has  red  eyes. 

183.  As  we  have  seen  him.     That  is,  seen  him  look  with.     See  Gr. 

384. 

184.  Cross1  din  conference.  Opposed  in  debate.  D.  and  II.  read  "sen- 
ator." 

188.  Let  me  have  men  about  me,  etc.  Cf.  N.  {Life  of  Cczsar)  :  "  Cctsar 
also  had  Cassius  in  great  jealousie,  and  suspected  him  much  :  whereupon 
he  said  upon  a  time  to  his  friends,  what  will  Cassius  do,  think  ye?  I  like 
not  his  pale  looks.  Another  time,  when  Ccesars  friends  complained  unto 
him  of  Antonius  and  Dolabella,  that  they  pretended  some  mischief  tow- 
ards him  :  he  answered  them  again,  As  for  those  fat  men  and  smooth 
combed  heads,  quoth  he,  I  never  reckon  of  them  ;  but  these  pale  visaged 
and  carrion  lean  People,  I  fear  them  most,  meaning  Brutus  and  Cassius.1'' 
So  also,  in  Life  of  Brutus:  "For,  intelligence  being  brought  him  one 
clay  that  Antonius  and  Dolabella  did  conspire  against  him  :  he  answered, 
That  these  fat  long  haired  men  made  him  not  afraid,  but  the  lean  and 
whitely  faced  fellows,  meaning  that  by  Brutus  and  Cassius."1 

189.  C  nights.  The  folio  has  "a-nights."  See  Gr.  182,  and  cf.  176 
and  24. 

190.  Youd.  Often  printed  "Yond\"  but  not  a  contraction  of  yonder. 
See  Temp.  p.  121,  note  on  407. 

193.  Well  given.     Well  disposed.     Cf.  2  Hen.  VI.  in.  I.  72:   "to 
given,"  etc.     In  I  Hen.  LV.  iii.  3,  we  have  both  "  virtuously  given  "  (16) 
and  "given  to  virtue"  (38). 

195.  Liable  to  fear.     Liable  to  the  imputation  of  fear. 

200.  He  hears  no  music.  Cf.  M.  of  V.  v.  I.  83  :  "The  man  that  hath 
not  music  in  himself,"  etc. 

201.  Seldom  he  smiles.  He  seldom  smiles.  Cf.  just  below,  "  for  always 
I  am  Caesar,"  and  see  Gr.  421. 

204.  Such  men  as  he  he  never  at  heart's  ease.  On  he,  see  At,  of  J',  p.  134 
(note  on  19),  and  Gr.  300.     ( >n  at,  see  Gr.  144.     We  still  say  ,//  ta 

205.  Whiles.     See  AL  of  V.  p.  133.  or  Gr.  137. 

212.  Tell  us  what  hat/i  chane'd.  W.  savs  that  the  folio  has  "  had 
chane'd,"  bat  he  must  have  been  looking  at  the  next  speech  of  Unit  us. 
Here  the  folio  reading  is,  "  I  Casha.  tell  vs  what  hath  chane'd  to-day;" 
there,  "  I  should  not  then  aske  Casha  what  had  chane'd." 

213.  Sad.     Grave,  serious.     Cf.  M.  of  V.  p.  141,  note  on  179. 


ACT  I.     SCENE  II.  135 

220.  Why,  there  was  a  crcnon,  etc.  The  editors  generally  quote  here 
Plutarch's  Life  of  Ccesar,  but  it  seems  to  us  that  the  account  given  in  the 
Life  of  Antonius  is  more  in  keeping  with  Casca's  way  of  telling  the  story  : 
"  When  he  [Antony]  was  come  to  Ccesar,  he  made  his  fellow  Runners  with 
him  lift  him  up,  and  so  he  did  put  his  Lawrell  Crown  upon  his  head,  sig- 
nifying thereby  that  he  had  deserved  to  be  King.  But  Ccesar  making  as 
though  he  refused  it,  turned  away  his  head.  The  People  were  so  rejoiced 
at  it,  that  they  all  clapped  their  hands  for  joy.  Antonius  again  did  put  it 
on  his  head  :  Ccesar  again  refused  it ;  and  thus  they  were  striving  off  and 
on  a  great  while  together.  As  oft  as  Antonius  did  put  this  Lawrell  Crown 
unto  him,  a  few  of  his  followers  rejoyced  at  it :  and  as  oft  also  as  Ccesar 
refused  it,  all  the  People  together  clapped  their  hands.  .  .  .  Casar  in  a 
rage  arose  out  of  his  Seat,  and  plucking  down  the  choller  of  his  Gown 
from  his  neck,  he  shewed  it  naked,  bidding  any  man  strike  off  his  head 
that  would.  This  Lawrell  Crown  was  afterwards  put  upon  the  head  of 
one  of  Ccesar's  Statues  or  Images,  the  which  one  of  the  Tribunes  pluckt 
off.  The  People  liked  his  doing  therein  so  well,  that  they  waited  on  him 
home  to  his  house,  with  great  clapping  of  hands.  Howbeit  Ccesar  did 
turn  them  out  of  their  offices  for  it."  According  to  the  Life  of  Ccesar,  his 
"  tearing  open  his  Doublet  Coller,"  and  offering  his  throat  to  be  cut,  was 
among  his  friends  in  his  own  house,  and  on  a  different  occasion,  namely, 
when  "  the  Consuls  and  Praetors,  accompanied  with  the  wh,ole  Assembly 
of  the  Senate,  went  unto  him  in  the  Market-place,  where  he  was  set  by 
the  Pulpit  for  Orations,  to  tell  him  what  honours  they  had  decreed  foi 
him  in  his  absence,"  and  he  offended  them  by  "  sitting  still  in  his  Majes- 
ty, disdaining  to  rise  up  unto  them  when  they  came  in."  The  historian 
adds  that,  "  afterwards  to  excuse  his  folly,  he  imputed  it  to  his  disease, 
saying,  that  their  wits  are  not  perfect  which  have  this  disease  of  the  fall- 
ing-Evill,  when  standing  on  their  feet  they  speak  to  the  common  People, 
but  are  soon  troubled  with  a  trembling  of  their  Body,  and  a  suddain  dim- 
ness and  giddiness."  The  Lupercalia  and  the  offering  of  the  crown  are 
then  described  as  occurring  after  this  insult  to  "  the  Magistrates  of  the 
Commonwealth." 

224.  Ay,  marry,  was  V.     On  marry  {  —  Mary),  see  M.  of  V.  p.  138. 

225.  Than  other.  Cf.  C  of  E.  iv.  3.  86  :  "  Both  one  and  the  other,"  etc. 
Or.  12. 

238.  The  rabblement  shouted.  The  folio  has  "  howted,"  which  is  doubt- 
less a  misprint  for  "  showted,"  as  the  word  is  spelled  just  above  in  "  mine 
honest  neighbours  showted."  Johnson  and  K.  have  "  hooted,"  which  is 
not  consistent  with  the  context,  as  it  expresses  "insult,  not  applause." 

241.  He  swooned.  The  folio  has  "  hee  swoonded,"  and  below,  "  what, 
did  Ccesar  swound  ?"     Cf.  R.  of  L.  i486  (see  our  ed.  p.  195). 

247.  '  7" is  very  like,  etc.  Like  for  likely,  as  very  often.  The  folio  reads, 
"  'T  is  very  like  he  hath  the  Falling  sicUnesse,"  and  Coll.  adheres  to  that 
pointing.  But  Brutus  knew  that  Caesar  was  subject  to  these  epileptic  at- 
tacks. Cf.  N.:  "  For,  concerning  the  constitution  of  his  body,  he  was  lean, 
white,  and  soft  skinned,  and  often  subject  to  head-ach,  and  other  while  to 
the  falling-sickness  (the  which  took  him  the  first  time,  as  it  is  reported, 
in  Corduba,  a  City  of  Spain),  but  yet  therefore  yielded  not  to  the  disease 


i36 


NOTES. 


of  his  body,  to  make  it  a  cloak  to  cherish  him  withall,  but  contrarilv,  took 
the  pains  of  War,  as  a  Medicine  to  cure  his  sick  body,  fighting  a'lwaies 
with  his  disease,  travelling  continually,  living  soberly,  and  commonly 
lying  abroad  in  the  Field." 

251.  Tag-rag.  Cf.  Cor.m.  1.  248:  "Will  you  hence,  before  the  tag 
return  ?"     Coll.  quotes  John  Partridge,  1566: 

"  To  walles  they  goe,  both  tagge  and  ragge, 
Their  citie  to  defende." 

253«  No  true  man.  No  honest  man.  Cf.  M.foi ■  M.  iv.  2.  46:  "Every 
true  man's  apparel  fits  your  thief  ;"  L.  L.  L.  iv.  3.  187  :  "a  true  man  or 
a  thief;"  Cymb.  ii.  3.  77:  "hangs  both  thief  and  true  man,"  etc. 

256.  Pluck'd  me  ope  his  doublet.  On  me,  see  M.  of  V.  p.  135  (note  on 
Piird  me)  and  Gr.  220.     On  ope,  see  Gr.  343,  290. 

As  Wr.  remarks,  "no  doubt  on  the  stage  Julius  Caesar  appeared  in 
doublet  and  hose  like  an  Englishman  of  Shakespeare's  time." 

257.  An  I  had.     The  folio  has  "and  I  had."     See  Gr.  101  fol. 

258.  A  man  of  any  occupation.  "A  mechanic,  one  of  the  plebeians  to 
whom  he  offered  his  throat"  (Johnson).  Cf.  Cor.  iv.  6.  97:  "the  voice 
of  occupation  and  The  breath  of  garlic-eaters."  W.  suggests  that  it  may 
mean  "a  man  of  action,  a  busy  man."  As  Wr.  says,  both  senses  may  be 
combined. 

259.  At  a  word.  At  his  word.  Elsewhere  the  phrase  —in  a  word. 
Cf.  Cor.  i.  3.  122  :  "  No,  at  a  word,  madam  ;"  Much  Ado,  ii.  1.  118  :  "At 
a  word,  I  am  not."  See  also  M.  W.  i.  1.  109,  2  Hen.  IV.  iii.  2.  319,  etc. 
Wr.  makes  the  phrase  here  ="at  the  least  hint,  quickly." 

273.  All  Greek  to  me.  Casca  is  joking  here,  if  we  may  take  Plutarch's 
testimony  concerning  his  knowledge  of  Greek.     See  N.,  p.  156  below. 

279.  /  am  promised  forth.  Cf.  M.  of  V.  ii.  5.  1 1  :  "I  am  bid  forth  to 
supper,"  and  "I  have  no  mind  of  feasting  forth  to-night."     See  Gr.  41. 

286.  He  was  quick  mettle.  The  Coll.  MS.  has  "mettled."  Walker 
suggests  "metal,"  referring  to  blunt.     See  on  i.  1.  61  above. 

290.  This  rudeness  is  a  sauce  to  his  good  ivit,  etc.     Cf.  Lear,  ii.  2.  102  : 

"This  is  some  fellow, 
Who,  having  been  prais'd  for  bluntness,  doth  affect 
A  saucy  roughness." 

300.  From  that  it  is  disposed.  From  that  to  which  it  is  disposed.  Cf. 
iii.  2.  250  below  ;  and  see  Gr.  244  (cf.  394). 

302.  So  firm  that  cannot.     See  (Jr.  279. 

303.  Doth  bear  me  hard.  "Does  not  like  me,  bears  me  a  grudge" 
(Craik)  ;  like  the  Latin  aegre  ferre  (Wr.).  Cf.  ii.  1.  215:  "Cains  Ltga- 
rius  doth  bear  Caesar  hard;"  and  iii.  1.  158:  "if  you  bear  me  hard.'' 
The  expression  occurs  nowhere  else  in  S.  Hales  quotes  B.  J.,  Catiline, 
iv.  5  :  "  Ay,  though  he  bear  me  hard,"  etc. 

305.  He  should  not  humour  me.  "He  (that  is.  Brutus)  should  not 
cajole  me  as  I  do  him  "  (Warb.).  "  •Caesar  loves  Brutus,  but  if  Brnttn 
and  I  were  to  change  places,  his  love  should  not  humour  me/ should  not 
take  hold  of  my  affection,  so  as  to  make  me  forget  my  principles"  (John* 
son).     The  latter  explanation  is  perhaps  to  be  preferred. 

306.  hi  several  hands.     Referring  to  writings  below.     Cf.  Gr.  419a. 


ACT  I.    SCENE  III. 


137 


315.  Seat  him  sure.  See  Gr.  223  and  I.  On  the  rhyming  couplet  at 
the  end  of  a  scene,  see  Gr.  515. 

Scene  III. — 1.  Brought  you  Ccesar  home?    On  bring—  accompany,  es- 
cort, cf.  Oth.  iii.  4.  197:   "  I  pray  you,  bring  me  on  the  way  a  little,"  etc. 
1  See  also  Gen.  xviii.  16,  Acts,  xxi.  5,  2  Cor.  i.  16. 

3.  The  sway  of  earth.  "  The  whole  weight  or  momentum  of  this  world" 
(Johnson).     "  The  balanced  swing  of  earth"  (Craik). 

4.  Unfirm.  S.  uses  both  infirm  and  unfirm — each  four  times.  See 
M.  of  V.  p.  155  (note  on  Uncapable)  or  Gr.  442. 

8.  To  be  exalted  with.  That  is,  in  the  effort  to  rise  to  that  height ;  or, 
possibly,  so  as  to  rise  to  the  clouds. 

10.  A  tempest  dropping  fire.  The  folio  has  "  a  Tempest-dropping-fire  ;" 
corrected  by  Rovve. 

13.  Destitution.     Here  a  quadrisyllable.     See  Gr.  479. 

14.  Any  thing  more  wonderful.  Abbott  (Gr.  6)  explains  this  as  "  more 
wonderful  than  usual ;"  Craik,  "  anything  more  that  was  wonderful."  Cf. 
Cor.  iv.  6.  62  : 

"The  slave's  report  is  seconded,  and  more, 
More  fearful,  is  delivered." 

15.  You  knozv  him  well  by  sight.  This  is  a  stumbling-block  to  some 
of  the  commentators.  D.  suggests  (and  H.  reads)  "you'd  know  him," 
and  Craik  "you  knew  him,"  in  the  sense  of  "would  have  known  him  ;" 
but,  as  Wr.  notes,  "  the  slaves  had  no  distinctive  dress."  It  is  nothing 
strange  that  both  Cicero  and  Casca  should  happen  to  know  a  particular 
slave  by  sight,  and  it  is  natural  enough  that  Casca,  in  referring  to  him 
here,  should  say,  And  you  yourself  know  the  man.  "It  is  simply  a 
graphic  touch"  (Wr.). 

On  this  whole  passage,  cf.  N.  {Life  of  Ccesar) :  "Certainly,  destiny  may 
easier  be  foreseen  than  avoided,  considering  the  strange  and  .wonderfull 
Signs  that  were  said  to  be  seen  before  Cccsars  death.  For,  touching  the 
Fires  in  the  Element,  and  Spirits  running  up  and  down  in  the  night,  and 
also  the  solitary  Birds  to  be  seen  at  noon  days  sitting  in  the  great  Market- 
place, are  not  all  these  Signs  perhaps  worth  the  noting,  in  such  a  wonder- 
full  chance  as  happened  ?  But  Strabo  the  philosopher  writeth,  that  divers 
men  were  seen  going  up  and  down  in  fire  :  and  furthermore,  that  there 
was  a  Slave  of  the  Souldiers  that  did  cast  a  marvellous  burning  flams  out 
of  his  hand,  insomuch  as  they  that  saw  it  thought  he  had  been  burnt :  when 
the  Fire  was  out,  it  was  found  he  had  no  hurt.  Ccesar  self  also  doing  Sac- 
rifice unto  the  gods,  found  that  one  of  the  Beasts  which  was  sacrificed  had 
no  Heart :  and  that  was  a  strange  thing  in  nature  :  how  a  Beast  could 
live  without  a  Heart." 

20.  A  lion  Who,  etc.  See  M.  of  V.  p.  144  (note  on  4),  or  Gr.  264.  The 
folio  has  "glaz'd  vpon  me."  Pope  substituted  glar\t,  and  the  Coll.  MS. 
has  the  same.  Cf.  Lear,  iii.  6.  25  :  "Look,  how  he  stands  and  glares  !" 
See  also  Macb.  iii.  4.  96,  etc. 

22.  Annoying.  Cf.  Rich.  III.  v.  3.  156 :  "  Good  angels  guard  thee  from 
the  boor's  annoy  !"  Chaucer  {Persones  Tale)  speaks  of  a  man  as  annoy' 
ing  his  neighbour  by  burning  his  house,  or  poisoning  him,  and  the  like. 


i3» 


NOTES. 


"AgaiUSt  the  Capitol  1  met  a  lion.*' 

Drown  Upon  a  heap.  Crowded  together.  Cf.  Hen.  V.  iv.  5.  18  :  "  Let 
ns  on  heaps  go  offer  up  our  lives;"  Kick.  III.xx.  1.  53:  "Among  this 
princely  heap,"  etc. 

30.  These  are  their  reasons.  Such  and  such  are  their  reasons.  Cf.  ii. 
1.  31  below:  "Would  run  to  these  and  these  extremities."  The  Coll. 
MS.  has  "seasons,"  which  II.  adopts. 

32.  Climate.  Region,  clime.  Cf.  Rich.  II.  iv.  r.  130  :  "in  a  Christian 
climate;"  and  Bacon,  Aa'v.  of  L.  i.  6.  10:  "the  southern  stars  were  in 
that  climate  unseen."  The  word  is  used  as  a  verb  in  W.  T.  v.  1.  170: 
"whilst  you  Do  climate  here." 

35.  Clean  from.  Quite  away  from.  Cf.  Oth.  i.  3.  366  :  "clenn  out  of 
the  way,"  etc.  See  also  Ps.  lxxvii.  8,  Isa.  xxiv.  19,  etc.  Onfro/n,  see  Gr. 
158,  and  cf.  64  below. 

40.  Not  to  walk  in.     That  is,  not  fit  to  walk  in.     See  Gr.  405. 

42.  What  night  is  this!  Craik  reads  "  What  a  night,"  but  this  is  a 
needless  marring  of  the  metre.     Cf.  T.  G.  of  V.  i.  2.  53  : 

"What  fool  is  she  that  knows  I  am  a  maid, 
And  would  not  force  the  letter  to  my  view!" 

and  T.N.  ii.  5.  123: 

"/',(/'/</'/.   Wli.it  dish  n'  poison  has  she  dressed  him! 
Sir  Tol<y.  And  with  what  wing  the  staniel  checks  at  it!" 

For  other  examples,  see  Gr.  86. 

47.  Submitting  m<.    Exposing  myself.    Gr.  223. 

49.  The  thunder-stout,  "  The  imaginary  product  of  the  thunder,  which 
the  ancients  called  Ihontii,  mentioned  by  Pliny  (.V.  //.  xxxvii.  10)  as  a  upe- 

ciesofgem,snd  as  that  which, falling  with  the  lightning, does  the  mischief. 

It  is  the  fossil  commonly  called  the  Belemnitc,  or  Finger-stone,  and  now 


ACT  I.     SCENE  III.  I39 

known  to  be  a  shell.  We  still  talk  of  the  thunder-bolt,  which,  however,  is 
commonly  confounded  with  the  lightning.  The  thunder-stone  was  held  to 
be  quite  distinct  from  the  lightning,  as  may  be  seen  from  Cymb.  iv.  2. 270  : 

"  '  Guiderins.   Fear  no  more  the  lightning-flash. 
Arviragus.   Nor  the  all-dreaded  thunder-stone.' 

It  is  also  alluded  to  in  Oth.  v.  2.  235  : 

"'Are  there  no  stones  in  heaven 
But  what  serve  for  the  thunder?'  "  (Craik) 

60.  Case  yourself  in  wonder.  The  folio  has  "  cast  your  selfe  in  wonder," 
which  is  retained  by  Coll.,  C,  St.,  and  the  Camb.  ed.  D.,  W.,  and  H. 
have  case,  which  was  independently  suggested  by  Swynfen  Jervis  and 
M.W.Williams.  Cf.  Much  Ado,\\.\.\\d\  "attir'd  in  wonder."  Wr. 
explains  "cast  yourself  in"  as  —u  hastily  dress  yourself  in." 

64.  Why  birds  and  beasts,  etc.  That  is,  why  they  change  their  natures. 
See  on  35  above.  Cf.  Lear,  ii.  2.  104:  "Quite  from  his  nature."  For 
kjnd—  nature,  see  A.  and  C.  p.  216,  note  on  262. 

65.  Why  old  men  fool,  etc.  "  Why  old  men  become  fools,  and  children 
prudent"  (W.).  The  folio  reads,  "  Why  Old  men,  Fooles,  and  Children 
calculate;"  and  so  K.  and  Craik.  Coll.  and  St.  have  "Why  old  men 
fools" — that  is,  why  we  have  old  men  fools.  D.,  W.,  the  Camb.  editors, 
and  H.  read  Why  old  men  fool,  which  was  suggested  by  Mitford.  On  fool, 
see  Gr.  290. 

66.  Their  ordinance.     What  they  were  ordained  to  be. 

71.  Some  monstrous  state.  Some  monstrous  or  unnatural  state  of  things. 
Cf.  Lear,  ii.  2.  176  :  "  this  enormous  state  ;"  and  see  our  ed.  p.  206. 

74.  As  doth  the  lion  in  the  Capitol.  "  That  is,  roars  in  the  Capitol  as 
cloth  the  lion"  (Craik).  Wr.  thinks  that  S.  imagined  lions  kept  in  the 
Capitol,  as  in  the  Tower  of  London. 

75.  Than  thyself  or  me.     On  me,  see  Gr.  210. 

76.  Prodigious.  Portentous;  as  always  in  S.  except  in  T.  G.  of  V.W. 
3.4:  "the  prodigious  son"  (Launce's  blunder  for  "prodigal  son").  Cf. 
B.  and  F.,  Philaster,  v.  I  :   "  like  a  prodigious  meteor  ;"  and  see  Gr.  p.  13. 

80.  Thews  and  limbs.  Here  thews  means  muscular  powers,  as  in  the 
two  other  instances  (2  Hen.  IV.  iii.  2.  276,  and  Ham.  i.  3.  12)  in  which  S. 
uses  the  word.  It  is  from  the  A.  S.  theow  or  tlieoh,  whence  also  thigh,  and 
must  not  be  confounded  with  the  obsolete  thews  —  manners,  or  qualities 
of  mind,  from  the  A.  S.  theaw.  This  latter  thews  is  common  in  Chaucer, 
Spenser,  and  other  early  writers  ;  the  former  is  found  very  rarely  before 
S.'s  day. 

81.  Woe  the  while.     Alas  for  the  time  !     See  Gr.  137  (cf.  230). 

82.  Governed  with.     On  zvith  (  =  by)  see  Gr.  193. 

94.   Can  be  retentive,  etc.     "  Can  retain  or  confine  the  spirit  "  (Craik). 

96.  Power.     Here  a  dissyllable.     Gr.  480. 

100.  So  every  bond/nan,  etc.  There  is  a  play  on  bond :  as  in  Rich.  III. 
iv.  4.  77  :  "  Cancel  his  bond  of  life,  clear  God,  I  pray  !"  Cf.  also  Cymb.  v.  4. 
28  ;  "And  cancel  these  cold  bonds"  (that  is,  his  chains);  Macb.  iii.  2  49  : 

"And  with  thy  bloody  and  invisible  hand 
Cancel  and  tear  to  pieces  that  great  bond 
Which  keeps  me  palel" 


[40 


NOTES. 


113.  My  answer  must  be  made.  "I  shall  be  called  to  account,  and 
must  answer  as  for  seditious  words"  (Johnson). 

1 15.  Such  a  man  That  is  no  fleering  tell-tale.  On  such  .  .  .  that,  see  Gr. 
279.  Fleering—  grinning,  sneering.  Of.  Much  Ado,  v.  1.  58  :  "never  fleer 
and  jest  at  me  ;"  and  see  our  ed.  p.  162. 

1 16.  Hold,  my  hand.  Mere,  take  my  hand.  St.  omits  the  comma  after 
"  Hold."  Craik  interprets  the  passage  thus:  "  Have,  receive,  take  hold 
(of  it)  ;  there  is  my  hand."  But  hold  is  probably  a  mere  interjection,  as 
often  in  S.,  and  not  an  imperative  with  object  "understood."  Cf.  Macb. 
ii.  I.  4:  "Hold,  take  my  sword;"  Rich.  II.  ii.  2.  92:  "Hold,  take  my 
ring,"  etc.  This  hold  is  of  course  identical  with  the  reflexive  verb  which 
we  have  below  (v.  3.  85):   "But  hold  thee,  take  this  garland,"  etc. 

117.  Be  factions,  tic.  "Factious  seems  here  to  mean  at  live"  (John- 
son). Coleridge  says,  "  I  understand  it  thus  :  You  have  spoken  as  a 
conspirator;  be  so  \n  fact,  and  I  will  join  you."  It  may,  however,  have 
its  ordinary  meaning  (given  to  faction),  as  it  does  in  every  other  in- 
stance in  S.  Griefs  here  ^grievances.  Cf.  iii.  2.  21 1  and  iv.  2.  42,  46 
below. 

119.  As  who  goes  farthest.     On  who,  see  Gr.  257. 

122.  Undergo.     Undertake.     Cf.  IV.  T  p.  202. 

123.  Honourable-dangerous.  See  Gr.  2.  Some  print  "bloody-fiery" 
in  129  below. 

125.  Pompefs  porch.  A  large  building  connected  with  Pompey's  The- 
atre, in  the  Campus  Martins. 

127.  The  element.  The  heaven,  or  sky.  Cf.  N.  {Life  of  Tamper) :"  the 
dust  in  the  element"  (that  is,  in  the  air) :  and  the  quotation  in  note  on  15 
above  :  "  the  Fires  in  the  Element."     See  also  Milton,  Comus,  298  : 

"  I  took  it  for  a  faery  vision 
Of  some  gay  creatures  of  the  element. 
That  in  the  colours  of  the  rainbow  live, 
And  play  in  the  plighted  clouds.'' 

128.  In  favour  V  like.  In  aspect  is  like.  The  folio  reads,  "  Is  Fauors, 
like  the  Worke  we  haue  in  hand."  Johnson  proposed  "  In  favour's." 
which  K.,  I).,  W.,  and  the  Camb.  ed.  adopt.  Steevens  suggested  "'It 
favours,'  or  'Is  favoured'  (so  H.) ;"  and  Reed,  "Is  fev'rous,"  ((noting 
in  support  of  it  Macb.  ii.  3.  66:  "the  earth  Was  feverous,  and  did 
shake." 

133.  To  find  out  you.     To  find  you  out.     See  Gr.  240. 

134.  One  incorporate  To  our  attempt.  "One  united  with  us  in  our  en- 
terprise "  (Craik).  Cf.  Bacon,  Adv.  of  f..  ii.  2.  12  :  "  not  incorporate  into 
the  history."  See  Gr.  342  and  187.  The  folio  has  "To  our  Attempts," 
which  is  retained  by  K.  and  the  Camb.  ed.     The  correction  is  Walker's. 

137.  There  V  twd  or  three.  See  Temp.  p.  122  (note  on  'There  is  no  more 
such  shares),  or  Gr.  335. 

143.  Where  Brutus  may  but  find  if.     On  but,  see  Gr.  128. 

145.  Upon  old  Brutus''  statue.  Cf.  N.  (/.//'-  of  Brutus) :  "  But  for  /?/■«- 
tus,  his  friends  and  ( 'ountri-vmen,  both  bv  divers  procurements  and  sun- 
dry rumors  of  the  City,  and  by  many  bills  also,  did  openly  call  and  procure 
him  to  do  that  he  did.    For  under  the  image  of  his  ancestor  Junius  Brutus 


ACT  I.     SCENE  III. 


141 


(that  drave  the  Kings  out  of  Rome)  they  wrote :  O,  that  it  pleased  the 
gods  thou  wert  now  alive,  Brutus  !  and  again,  That  thou  were  here  among 
us  now  !  His  tribunal  or  chair,  where  he  gave  audience  during  the  time 
he  was  Praetor,  was  full  of  such  bills  :  Brutus  thou  art  asleep,  and  art  not 
Brutus  indeed." 

151.  Pompey's  theatre.  This  was  the  first  stone  theatre  that  had  been 
built  at  Rome,  and  was  modelled  after  one  that  Pompey  had  seen  at 
Mitylene.  It  was  large  enough  to  accommodate  forty  thousand  specta- 
tors. At  its  opening  in  B.C.  55,  the  games  exhibited  by  Pompey  lasted 
many  days,  and  consisted  of  dramatic  representations,  contests  of  gym- 
nasts and  of  gladiators,  and  fights  of  wild  beasts.  Five  hundred  African 
lions  were  killed,  and  eighteen  elephants  were  brought  into  the  arena, 
most  of  which  fell  before  Gaetulian  huntsmen. 

153.  Three  parts  of  him  Is  ours.     See  Gr.  333. 

158.  Alchemy.  For  the  allusion  to  the  art  of  changing  base  metals  to 
gold,  cf.  Sonn.  33.  4:  "Gilding  pale  streams  with  heavenly  alchemy;" 
and  K.  John,  iii.  1.  78 : 

"the  glorious  sun 
Stays  in  his  course  and  plays  the  alchemist, 
Turning  with  splendour  of  his  precious  eye 
The  meagre  cloddy  earth  to  glittering  gold." 


161.  Conceited.    Conceived,  imagined  ;  as  in  iii.  1.  193  below, 
iii.  3.  149  :  "one  that  so  imperfectly  conceits,"  etc. 


Cf.  Oik. 


I42  NOTES. 


ACT  IT. 


Scene  T. — The  heading  in  the. folio  is,  "  Enter  Brutus  in  his  Orchard." 
Orchard  in  S.  is  "generally  synonymous  with  garden"  (I).).  The  word 
is  the  A.  S.  ortgeard,  or  wyrtgeard  (wort-yard  or  plant-yard),  not  a  tauto- 
logical compound  of  the  Latin  hortus  and  the  A.  S.  gear d,  as  Earle  {Phi- 
lology of  English  7ongue,  1871)  and  others  have  made  it.  The  "private 
arbours  and  new-planted  orchards  "  of  iii.  2.  247  below  are  the  "gardens 
and  arbours  "  of  N. 

1.  What,  Lucius!  See  M.  of  V.  p.  141  (note  on  What,  Jessica  !),  Te/n/>. 
p.  119  (on  Come,  thou  tortoise!  when  ?),  and  Gr.  73a.     Cf.  5  just  below. 

3.  How  near  to  day.     How  near  it  is  to  day.     Gr.  403. 

10.  //  must  be  by  his  death,  etc.  Coleridge  remarks  :  "  This  speech  is 
singular — at  least,  I  do  not  at  present  see  into  Shakespeare's  motive,  his 
ratio/tale,  or  in  what  point  of  view  he  meant  Brutus's  character  to  appear. 
For  surely — (this,  I  mean,  is  what  I  say  to  myself,  with  my  present  quan- 
tum of  insight,  only  modified  by  my  experience  in  how  many  instances  I 
have  ripened  into  a  perception  of  beauties  where  I  had  before  descried 
faults) — surely  nothing  can  seem  more  discordant  with  our  historical  pre- 
conceptions of  Brutus,  or  more  lowering  to  the  intellect  of  the  Stoico-Pla- 
tonic  tyrannicide,  than  the  tenets  here  attributed  to  him — to  him,  the  stern 
Roman  republican  ;  namely,  that  he  would  have  no  objection  to  a  king, 
or  to  Caesar,  a  monarch  in  Rome,  would  Caesar  but  be  as  good  a  monarch 
as  he  now  seems  disposed  to  be  !  How,  too,  could  Brutus  say  that  he 
found  no  personal  cause — none  in  Caesar's  past  conduct  as  a  man  ?  Had 
he  not  crossed  the  Rubicon  ?  Had  he  not  entered  Rome  as  a  conqueror  ? 
Had  he  not  placed  his  Gauls  in  the  Senate?  Shakespeare,  it  maybe 
said,  has  not  brought  these  things  forward.  True — and  this  is  just  the 
ground  of  my  perplexity.  What  character  did  Shakespeare  mean  his 
Brutus  to  be  f"     As  Wr.  says,  "  he  was  a  political  theorist." 

12.  For  the  general.  "  For  the  community,  or  the  people"  (Craik). 
Cf.  M.for  M.  ii.  4.  27:  "the  general  subject  to  a  well-wish'd  king;" 
Ham.  ii.  2. 457  :  "  caviare  to  the  general,"  etc.  Some  make  for  the  gets* 
eral="  (or  the  general  cause." 

15.  Crown  him  ? — 7/iat.     Be  that  so  ;  suppose  that  done. 

17.  Do  danger.     Do  what  is  dangerous,  do  mischief.     Cf.  Gr.  303. 

19.  Remoru.     Mercy,  or  pity.     See  ;!/.  of  V.  p.  156,  and  Temp.  p.  140. 

21.  Common  proof  A  thing  commonly  proved,  a  common  experience. 
Cf.  T.  N.  iii.  1.  135  : 

"for  't  is  a  vulgar  proof 
That  very  oft  we  pity  enemies." 

23.  Climber-upward.     On  the  "  noun-compounds"  of  S.,  see  Gr.  430. 

24.  Upmost.  Like  inmost,  outmost,  or  utmost,  etc.  Mrs.  Clarke  does  not 
give  the  word,  but  has  utmost  in  this  passage,  following  what  is  probably 
a  slip  of  the  type  in  Knight's  ed.     We  find  upmost  in  Dryden  (  Wore  >. 

26.  The  base  degrees.  The  lower  steps  of  the  ladder.  Cf.  //en.  17//. 
ii.  4.  112:  "You  have  .  .  .  Gone  slightly  o'er  low  steps,  and  now  are 
mounted,"  etc. 


ACT  II.     SCENE  I.  143 

29.  Will  bear  no  colour,  etc.  Can  find  no  pretext  in  what  he  now  is. 
On  colour,  cf.  Hen.  VIII  p.  160. 

33.  As  his  kind.     "  Like  the  rest  of  his  species"  (Mason). 

34.  And  kill  him  in  the  shell.  "  It  is  impossible  not  to  feel  the  ex- 
pressive effect  of  the  hemistich  here.  The  line  itself  is,  as  it  were,  killed 
in  the  shell"  (Craik). 

40.  The  Ides  of  March.  The  folio  has  "  the  first  of  March."  Theo. 
made  the  correction. 

50.  Have  took.     See  M.  of  V.  p.  141  (note  on  ATot  undertook),  or  Gr.  343. 

53.  My  ancestors.     D.  and  H.  read  "  My  ancestor." 

59.  March  is  wasted  fifteen  days.  This  is  the  folio  reading,  changed  to 
"fourteen  days"  by  Theo.  and  all  the  recent  editors  except  W.,  who  re- 
marks that  "in  common  parlance  Lucius  is  correct" — and  so  in  Roman 
parlance,  he  might  have  added. 

65.  Phautastna.  Vision  ;  used  by  S.  nowhere  else  Phantasm  (=fan- 
tastical  fellow)  occurs  in  L.  L.  I.  iv.  1.  no:  "A  phantasm,  a  Monarcho, 
and  one  that  makes  sport ;"  and  Id.  v.  1.  20:   "fanatical  phantasms." 

66.  The  genius  and  the  mortal  instruments.  "The  commentators  have 
written  and  disputed  lavishly  upon  these  celebrated  words.  Apparently, 
by  the  genius  we  are  to  understand  the  contriving  and  immortal  mind, 
and  most  probably  the  mortal  instruments  are  the  earthly  passions.  The 
best  light  for  the  interpretation  of  the  present  passage  is  reflected  from 
the  one  below,  where  Brutus  says  : 

"  '  Let  our  hearts,  as  subtle  masters  do, 
Stir  up  their  servants  to  an  act  of  rage, 
And  after  seem  to  chide  'em.' 

The  servants  here  may  be  taken  to  be  the  same  with  the  instruments  in 
the  passage  before  us.  It  has  been  proposed  to  understand  by  the  mor- 
tal instruments  the  bodily  powers  or  organs  ;  but  it  is  not  obvious  how 
these  could  be  said  to  hold  consultation  with  the  genius  or  mind.  Nei- 
ther could  they  in  the  other  passage  be  so  fitly  said  to  be  stirred  up  by 
the  heart"  (Craik). 

According  to  Johnson,  the  poet  "  is  describing  the  insurrection  which  a 
conspirator  feels  agitating  the  little  kingdom  of  his  own  mind  ;  when  the 
genius,  or  power  that  watches  for  his  protection,  and  the  mortal  instru- 
ments, the  passions,  which  excite  him  to  a  deed  of  honour  and  danger, 
are  in  council  and  debate  ;  when  the  desire  of  action,  and  the  care  of 
safety,  keep  the  mind  in  continual  fluctuation  and  disturbance." 

Malone  endorses  Johnson's  interpretation,  but  understands  mortal  to 
mean  deadly,  as  often  in  S. 

A  writer  in  the  Edinburgh  Review  (Oct.  1869)  makes  genius  "  the  spirit, 
ruling  intellectual  power,  rational  soul,  as  opposed  tothe  irascible  nat- 
ure," and  mortal  instruments  "the  bodily  powers  through  which  it  works  ;" 
and  this  is  probably  correct.  We  cannot  believe  that  genius  has  here  the 
meaning  which  Johnson  ascribes  to  it,  and  which  it  has  in  some  other 
passages  of  our  poet ;  as  in  C.  of  E.v.  1.  332  : 

"One  of  these  men  is  genius  to  the  other; 
And  so  of  these.     Which  is  the  natural  man, 
And  which  the  spirit?'' 


144 


NOTES. 


67.  The  state  of  matt.  The  folio  has  u  the  state  of  a  man,"  which  K. 
and  Craik  retain  ;  all  the  other  recent  editors  omit  "  a."  Cfc  Macb.  i.  3. 
140. 

On  the  whole  passage,  cf.  T.  and  C  ii.  3.  184: 

"'twixt  his  mental  and  his  active  parts 
Kingdom'd  Achilles  in  commotion  rages, 
And  batters  'gainst  himself" 
70.  Your  brother  Cassius.     Cassius  had  married  Junia,  the  sister  of 
Brutus. 

72.  Moe.     More  ;  as  in  v.  3.  101  below.     See  M.  of  V.  p.  129. 

73.  Their  hats,  etc.  "  S.  dresses  his  Romans  in  the  slouched  hats  of 
his  own  time  "  (Wr.).     See  on  i.  2.  256  above. 

75.  That.     On  the  ellipsis  of  so,  see  on  i.  1.  45  above. 

76.  By  any  mark  of  favour.     See  on  i.  2.  87  above. 

78.  Sham'st  thou,  etc.  Cf.  W.  T.  ii.  I.  91  :  "  What  she  should  shame 
to  know  ;"  K.  John,  i.  i.  104:  "  I  shame  to  speak,"  etc. 

79.  Evils.     Evil  things  ;  as  in  R.  of  L.  1250,  etc. 

83.  For  if  thou  path,  etc.  The  1st  folio  reads,  "  For  if  thou  path  thy 
natiue  semblance  on,"  which  (with  a  comma  after  path,  as  in  the  2d  folio) 
may  be  explained,  "If  thou  walk  in  thy  true  form"'  (Johnson).  Drayton 
uses  path  as  a  transitiw  verb  in  his  Polyolhitm :  "  Where  from  the  neigh- 
bouring hills  her  passage  Wey  doth  path,"  and  again  in  his  Epistle  from 
Duke  Humphrey,  etc. :  "  Pathing  «young  Henry's  unadvised  ways."  It 
is  possible,  however,  that  path  is  a  misprint  here.  Southern  and  Cole- 
ridge independently  suggested  "put,"  which  Walker  pronounces  "cer- 
tainly" right,  and  which  D.  adopts.  W.  is  inclined  to  the  opinion  that 
S.  wrote  "hadst."     II.  reads  "pass"  (an  anonymous  conjecture). 

86.  We  are  too  hold,  etc.  "  We  intrude  too  boldly  or  unceremoniously 
upon  your  rest"  (Craik). 

100.  Shall  I  entreat  a  word?     See  p.  13  above. 

104.  Fret.     Cf.  R.  and  J.  p.  192,  foot-note. 

107.  Which  is  a  great  way,  etc.  Which  must  be  far  to  the  south,  when 
we  consider  the  time  of  year.     On  weighing,  see  Gr.  378. 

112.  Your  hands  all  over.     "  That  is,  all  included"  (Craik). 

1 14.  No,  not  an  oath.  Cf.  N.  {Life  of  Brutus) :  "  The  onely  name  and 
great  Calling  of  Brutus,  did  bring  on  the  most  of  them  to  give  consent 
to  this  conspiracy;  who  having  never  taken  Oaths  together,  nor  taken 
nor  given  any  caution  or  assurance,  nor  binding  themselves  one  to  an- 
other by  any  religious  Oaths,  they  all  kept  the  matter  so  secret  to  them- 
selves,  and  could  so  cunningly  handle  it,  that  notwithstanding,  the  lmhIs 
did  reveal  it  by  manifest  signs  and  tokens  from  above,  and  by  Predictions 
of  Sacrifices,  yet  all  this  would  not  be  believed." 

Face.  The  folio  reading,  retained  by  K.,  P..  W.,  II..  and  the  Camb. 
ed.      Waib.  proposed  "  fate,"  Mason  M  iaith,"  and  M alone  "  faiths." 

1 15.  The  time's  abuse.     The  abuses  of  the  time. 

117.  Idle  bed.  I3ed  of  idleness  ;  as  we  say  "  a  sick  bed."  Cf.  T.  and  C. 
i.  3.  147:  "upon  a  lazy  bed."     High-sighted  --"supercilious"  (Schmidt). 

119.  By  lottery.  As  chance  may  determine.  Steevens  thought  there 
might  be  an  allusion  to  the  custom  of  decimation — "  the  selection  by  lot  of 


ACT  II.    SCENE  I.  I45 

every  tenth  soldier,  in  a  general  mutiny,  for  punishment."     Cf.  T.  of  A. 
v.  4.  31  :   "By  decimation,  and  a  tithed  death." 

123.  What  need  7ue,  etc.     Why  need  we,  etc.     Gr.  253. 

125.  Than  secret  Romans.     Than  that  of  Romans  pledged  to  secrecy. 

126.  Will  not  palter.  Will  not  shuffle  or  equivocate.  Cf.  A.  and  C. 
iii.  11.  63  :  "dodge  And  palter  in  the  shifts  of  lowness ;"  Cor.  iii.  1.  58 : 
"  This  paltering  Becomes  not  Rome  ;"  Macb.  v.  8.  20 : 

"And  be  these  juggling  fiends  no  more  believ'd, 
That  palter  with  us  in  a  double  sense  ; 
That  keep  the  word  of  promise  to  our  ear, 
And  break  it  to  our  hope." 

129.  Cautelons.  Wary,  crafty,  as  in  Cor.  iv.  1.33:  "  cautelous  baits 
and  practice."  Cf.  the  noun  cautel  in  Ham.  i.  3.  15  :  "no  soil  nor  cautel 
doth  besmirch  The  virtue  of  his  will."  Cotgrave  {Fr.  Diet.  161 1)  defines 
cautel le  thus :  "  A  wile,  cautel],  sleight ;  a  craftie  reach,  or  fetch,  guilefull 
deuise  or  endeuor  ;  also,  craft,  subtiltie,  trumperie,  deceit,  cousenage." 
Cf.  Bacon,  Adv.  of  I.  ii.  21.  9  :   "frauds,  cautels,  impostures." 

133.  Even.  "  Without  a  flaw  or  blemish,  pure"  (Schmidt).  Cf.  Hen. 
V11I.  iii.  I.  37 :  "I  know  my  life  so  even,"  etc. 

134.  Insiippressive.  Used  in  a  "  passive"  sense,  =not  to  be  suppressed. 
Cf.  A.  Y.  L.  iii.  2.  10:  "The  fair,  the  chaste,  and  unexpressive  she  ;"  T. 
and  C.  iii.  3.  198:  "the  nncomprehensive  (unknown)  deeps;"  A.  W.  i.  2. 
53:  "his plausive  (plausible,  specious)  words;"  T.  G.  of  V.  iv.  4.  200: 
"I  can  make  respective  (respectable)  in  myself,"  etc.     See  Gr.  3.. 

135.  To  think.     By  thinking.     On  the  infinitive,  see  Gr.  356. 

136.  Did  need  an  oath.     Ever  could  need  an  oath.     Gr.  370. 

138.  A  several  bastardy.  "  A  special  or  distinct  act  of  baseness,  or  of 
treason  against  ancestry  and  honourable  birth"  (Craik).  See  Temp.  p. 
I31,  note  on  Several. 

144.  His  silver  hairs.  Cicero  was  then  about  sixty  years  old.  There 
is  an  obvious  play  upon  silver  and  purchase.     Opinion  —  reputation. 

150.  Break  with  him.  Broach  the  matter  to  him.  See  Hen.  VIII.  p. 
197. 

Cf.  N.  {life  of  Brntns) :  "  For  this  cause  they  durst  not  acquaint  Cicero 
with  their  conspiracy,  although  he  was  a  man  whom  they  loved  dearly, 
and  trusted  best ;  for  they  were  afraid  that  he,  being  a  coward  by  nature, 
and  age  also  having  encreased  his  fear,  he  would  quite  turn  and  alter  all 
their  purpose,  and  quench  the  heat  of  their  enterprise,  the  which  specially 
required  hot  and  earnest  execution." 

158.  We  shall  find  of  him  A  shrewd  contriver.  On  of—\x\,  see  Gr.  172. 
On  shrewd=e\\\,  mischievous,  see  Hen.  VIII.  p.  202.  Wiclif  {Gen.  vi. 
12)  translates  iniquitate  of  the  Vulgate  by  "shrewdnes."  Cf.  Chaucer, 
Tale  of  Melibccus :  "  The  prophete  saith  :  Flee  shrewdnesse,  and  do  good- 
nesse  ;  seek  pees,  and  folwe  it,  in  as  muchel  as  in  thee  is  ;"  Id. :  "And 
Seint  Poule  the  Apostle  sayth  in  his  Epistle,  whan  he  writeth  unto  the 
Romaines,  that  the  juges  beren  not  the  spere  withouten  cause,  but  they 
beren  it  to  punish  the  shrewes  and  misdoers,  and  for  to  defende  the  goode 
men."     Contriver  — p]ottcv ;  as  in  A.  Y.  L.  i.  1. 15 1  (see  our  ed.  p.  139). 

160.  Annoy.     See  on  i.  3.  22  above. 

K 


146 


NOTES. 


164.  Envy.     Malice  ;  as  often.     See  M.  of  V.  p.  151,  note  on  Envious. 

166.  Let  us  be  sacrijicers,  etc.  On  the  measure,  see  Gr.  468;  and  also 
for  178  just  below. 

177.  Make.  "Make  to  seem."  Craik  and  H.  adopt  the  "mark"  of 
the  Coll.  MS. 

180.  Pnrgers.     Cleansers  or  healers  (of  the  land).     Cf.  Macb.  v.  3.  52. 

183.  Yet  I  fear  him.  Pope  reads  "do  fear,"  which  C.  says  "  improves. 
if  it  is  not  absolutely  required  by,  the  sense  or  expression  as  well  as  the 
prosody." 

187.  Take  thought  and  die.  Thought  used  to  mean  "anxiety,  melan- 
choly ;"  and  to  think,  or  take  thought,  "  to  be  anxious,  despondent."  <  !£ 
A.  and  C.  iii.  13.  I  :  "Cleopatra.  What  shall  we  do,  Enobarbus  ?  Euo- 
barbus.  Think,  and  die;"  Holland,  Camden's  Ireland:  "the  old  man  for 
very  thought  and  grief  of  heart  pined  away  and  died  ;"  Bacon,  Hem.  I '//.  : 
"  Hawis  ....  dyed  with  thought,  and  anguish."  See  also  1  Sam.  i.\.  5, 
and  Matt.  vi.  25.' 

190.  There  is  no  fear  in  him.     That  is,  nothing  for  us  to  fear.     Fear  is 
elsewhere  used  for  the  cause  or  object  of  fear  ;  as  in  M.  X.  P.  v.  1.  21  : 
"Or  in  the  night,  imagining  some  fear, 
How  easy  is  a  hush  Ktppot'd  -\  hear!" 

192.  Count  the  clock.  Of  course  this  is  an  anachronism,  as  the  clef 

or  water-clocks,  of  the  Romans  did  not  strike  the  hours. 

Hath  stricken.  S.  uses  struck  (or  strook),  strucken  (or  stroken\  ami 
stricken.      Sec  Gr,  344. 


ACT  II.    SCENE  I.  I47 

194.  Whether.  Here  the  folio  prints  "Whether,"  though  the  word  is 
metrically  equivalent  to  the  "where"  in  i.  1.  61  above. 

196.  Quite  from  the  main  opinion.  Quite  contrary  to  the  fixed  (or  pre- 
dominant) opinion.  See  on  i.  3.  35  above.  Mason  proposed  to  read 
"  mean  opinion." 

197.  Fantasy.  u  Fancy,  or  imagination,  with  its  unaccountable  an- 
ticipations and  apprehensions,  as  opposed  to  the  calculations  of  reason" 
(Craik). 

Ceremonies.  "  Omens  or  signs  deduced  from  sacrifices,  or  other  cere- 
monial rites"  (Malone).  Cf.  Bacon,  Adv.  of  L.  ii.  10.  3  :  "ceremonies, 
characters,  and  charms,"  where  the  word  means  superstitious  rites. 

198.  These  apparent  prodigies.  These  manifest  portents.  Apparently 
used  in  its  emphatic  sense  {dearly  appearing),  not  in  its  weaker  one 
(merely  appearing,  or  seeming).  Cf.  I  Hen.  IF.  ii.  4.  292  :  "  this  open  and 
apparent  shame  ;"  K.  John,  iv.  2.  93  : 

"It  is  apparent  foul  play ;  and  't  is  shame 
That  greatness  should  so  grossly  offer  it." 

See  also  Bacon,  Ess.  40  (ed.  1625)  :  "  Overt,  and  Apparent  vertues  bring 
forth  Praise ;  But  there  be  Secret  and  Hidden  Vertues,  that  bring  Forth 
Fortune. 

204.  That  unicorns,  etc.  Steevens  says  :  "  Unicorns  are  said  to  have 
been  taken  by  one  who,  running  behind  a  tree,  eluded  the  violent  push 
the  animal  was  making  at  him,  so  that  his  horn  spent  its  force  on  the 
trunk,  and  stuck  fast,  detaining  the  beast  till  he  was  despatched  by  the 
hunter."     Cf.  Spenser,  F.  Q.  ii.  5.  10 : 

"Like  as  a  Lyon,  whose  imperiall  powre 
A  prowd  rebellious  Unicorn  defyes, 
T'  avoide  the  rash  assault  and  wrathful  stowre 
Of  his  fiers  foe.  him  to  a  tree  applyes. 
And  when  him  ronning  in  full  course  he  spyes, 
He  slips  aside  ;  the  whiles  that  furious  beast 
His  precious  home,  sought  of  his  enimyes. 
Strikes  in  the  stocke.  ne  thence  can  be  releast, 
But  to  the  mighty  victor  yields  a  bounteous  feast." 

See  also  T.  of  A.  iv.  3.  339  :  "wert  thou  the  unicorn,  pride  and  wrath 
would  confound  thee,  and  make  thine  own  self  the  conquest  of  thy 
fury." 

"  Bears,"  adds  Steevens,  "  are  reported  to  have  been  surprised  by 
means  of  a  mirror,  which  they  would  gaze  on,  affording  their  pursuers 
an  opportunity  of  taking  a  surer  aim.  This  circumstance,  I  think,  is  men- 
tioned by  Claudian.  Elephants  were  seduced  into  pitfalls,  lightly  covered 
with  hurdles  and  turf,  on  which  a  proper  bait  to  tempt  them  was  ex- 
posed.    See  Pliny's  Natural  History,  book  viii." 

208.  Most  flattered.  "  At  the  end  of  a  line  ed  is  often  sounded  after  <?r" 
(Gr.  474).     On  the  metre  of  the  next  line,  see  Gr.  512. 

212.  There.     That  is,  at  Caesar's  house. 

215.  Doth  bear  Caesar  hard.  See  on  i.  2.  303  above.  On  the  relations 
of  this  Caius  (or,  rather,  Quintus)  Ligarius  to  Caesar,  cf.  N.  {Life  of  Bru- 
tus): "Now  amongst  Pompey's  friends,  there  was  one  called  Caius  Li- 
garius, who  had  been  accused  unto  Ccesar  for  taking  part  with  Pompey, 


148  NOTES. 

and  Casar  discharged  him.  But  LJgarins  thanked  not  Carsar  so  much 
for  his  discharge,  as  he  was  offended  with  him  for  that  he  was  brought 
in  danger  by  his  tyrannical]  power.  And,  therefore,  in,  his  heart  he  was 
alway  his  mortal)  enemy,  and  was  besides  very  familiar  with  Brutus,  who 
went  to  see  him  being  sick  in  his  bed,  and  said  unto  him:  Ligarius  in 
what  a  time  art  thou  sick  !  Ligarius  rising  up  in  his  bed,  and  taking  him 
by  the  right  hand,  said  unto  him  :  Brutus  (said  he)  if  thou  hast  any  great 
enterprise  in  hand  worthy  of  thyself,  I  am  whole." 

218.  Go  along  by  him.  That  is,  by  his  house  (on  your  way  home).  Cf. 
iv.  3.  205  below.     Pope  reads  "  Go  along  to  him." 

219.  Reasons.     D.  and  II.  read  "reason." 

224.  Look  fresh  and  merrily.  That  is,  freshly  and  merrily.  Cf.  T.  Ar. 
v.  1.  135  :  "  Apt  and  willingly."     For  other  examples,  see  Gr.  397. 

225.  Let  not  our  looks  put  on  our  purposes.  That  is,  "such  expression 
as  would  betray  our  purposes."  Craik  compares  the  exhortation  of  Lady 
Macbeth  to  her  husband  {Macb.  i.  5.  64) : 

"To  beguile  the  time, 
Look  like  the  time :  bear  welcome  in  your  eye. 
Your  hand,  your  tongue ;  look  like  the  innocent  flower, 
But  be  the  serpent  under  it." 

But  the  sentiment  takes  its  boldest  form  from  the  lips  of  Macbeth  him- 
self in  the  first  fervour  of  his  weakness  exalted  into  determined  wicked- 
ness (i.  7.  81) : 

"Away,  and  mock  the  time  with  fairest  show: 
False  face  must  hide  what  the  false  heart  doth  know." 

227.  Formal  constancy.  "Constancy  in  outward  form  or  aspect"  (Craik) ; 
"dignified  self- possession"  (Wr.). 

230.  The  honey-heavy  dew  of  slumber.  See  Gr.  430.  The  folio  reads, 
"the  hony-heauy-Dew  of  Slumber,"  for  which  the  Coll.  MS.  substitutes 
"heavy  honey-dew."  I),  in  his  1st  edition  has  "honey  heavy  dew" 
(which  he  explains  as  "honeyed  and  heavy"),  but  in  his  2d  he  adopts 
"heavy  honey-dew."  K.,  \V.,  H.,  and  the  Camb.  ed.  have  honey-heary 
</ew.  W.  adds:  "that  is,  slumber  as  refreshing  as  dew,  and  whose 
heaviness  is  sweet."     "  Honey-dew  "  occurs  in  T.  A.  iii.  I.  112: 

"the  honey-dew 
Upon  a  gather'd  lily  almost  wither  d." 

On  the  figure  in  the  text,  cf.  Rich.  LIL.  iv.  I.  84:  "enjoy  the  golden  dew 
of  sleep." 

231.  Thou  hast  no  figures,  etc.  "Pictures  created  by  imagination  or 
apprehension"  (Craik).  Cf.  M.  W.  iv.  2.  231  :  "if  it  be  but  to  scrape  the 
figures  out  of  your  husband's  brains."  On  the  double  negative,  see  Gr. 
406. 

233.  Enter  Portia.  Cf.  N.  {Life  of  Brutus) :  "  Now  Brutus,  who  knew 
very  well,  that  for  his  sake  all  the  noblest,  valiantest.  and  most  COUragious 
men  of  ROMR  did  venture  their  lives,  weighing  with  himself  the  gn 
of  the  danger:  when  he  was  out  of  his  house,  he  did  so  frame  and  fashion 
his  countenance  and  lookes,  that  no  man  could  discern  he  had  anything 
to  trouble  his  mind.     l>ut  when  night  came  that  he  was  in  his  own  house. 


ACT  II.     SCENE  I. 


149 


then  he  was  clean  changed :  for  either  care  did  wake  him  against  his  will 
when  he  would  have  slept,  or  else  oftentimes  of  himself  he  fell  into  such 
deep  thoughts  of  this  enterprise,  casting  in  his  mind  all  the  dangers  that 
might  happen :  that  his  Wife  lying  by  him,  found  that  there  was  some 
marvellous  great  matter  that  troubled  his  mind,  not  being  wont  to  be  in 
that  taking,  and  that  he  could  not  well  determine  with  himself.  .  .  .  This 
young  Lady  being  excellently  well  seen  in  Philosophy,  loving  her  Husband 
well,  and  being  of  a  noble  courage,  as  she  was  also  wise  :  because  she 
would  not  ask  her  Husband  what  he  ayled,  before  she  had  made  some 
proof  by  herself:  she  took  a  little  Razor,  such  as  Barbers  occupy  to  paie 
mens  nails,  and  causing  her  Maids  and  Women  to  go  out  of  her  Chamber 
gave  herself  a  great  gash  withall  in  her  thigh,  that  she  was  straight  all  of 
a  gore  bloud :  and  incontinently  after,  a  vehement  Feaver  took  her,  by 
reason  of  the  pain  of  her  wound.  Then  perceiving  her  Husband  was 
marvellously  out  of  quiet,  and  that  he  could  take  no  rest,  even  in  her 
greatest  pain  of  all,  she  spake  in  this  sort  unto  him  :  ■  I  being,  O  Brutus 
(said  she)  the  daughter  of  Cato,  was  married  unto  thee ;  not  to  be  thy 
bedfellow,  and  Companion  in  bed  and  at  board  onely,  like  a  Hailot,  but 
to  be  partaker  also  with  thee  of  thy  good  and  evill  Fortune.  Now  for 
thy  self,  I  can  find  no  cause  of  fault  in  thee  touching  our  match :  but  for 
my  part,  how  may  I  show  mry  duty  towards  thee,  and  how  much  I  would  do 
for  thy  sake,  if  I  cannot  constantly  bear  a  secret  mischance  or  grief  with 
thee,  which  requireth  secresie  and  fidelity.  I  confess,  that  a  Womans  wit 
commonly  is  too  weak  to  keep  a  secret  safely  :  but  yet  {Brutus)  good  ed- 
ucation, and  the  company  of  vertuous  men,  have  some  power  to  reform 
the  defect  of  nature.  And  for  my  self,  I  have  this  benefit  moreover,  that 
I  am  the  Daughter  of  Cato,  and  Wife  of  Brutus.  This  notwithstanding, 
I  did  not  trust  to  any  of  these  things  before,  untill  that  now  I  have  found 
by  experience,  that  no  pain  or  grief  whatsoever  can  overcome  me.'  With 
those  words  she  shewed  him  her  wound  on  her  thigh,  and  told  him  what 
she  had  done  to  prove  her  self.  Brutus  was  amazed  to  hear  what  she 
said  unto  him,  and  lifting  up  his  hands  to  Heaven,  he  besought  the  god- 
desses to  give  him  the  grace  he  might  bring  his  enterprise  to  so  good 
pass,  that  he  might  be  found  a  Husband,  worthy  of  so  noble  a  Wife  as 
Porcia :  so  he  then  did  comfort  her  the  best  he  could." 

238.  Stole.     Elsewhere  S.  has  stolen.     See  Or.  343. 

240.  Arms  across.     Folded  arms  ;  as  in  R.  of  L.  1662. 

246.  Wtifture.  The  folio  has  "  wafter."  S.  used  the  word  nowhere 
else. 

248.  Impatience.     A  quadrisyllable.     See  on  i.  3.  13  above.     Gr.  479. 

251.  His  hour.     Here  ///.r=its,  as  often.     See  on  i.  2.  124  above. 

254.  Prevail d  on  your  condition.  Influenced  your  temper  or  state  of 
mind.      See  M.  of  V.  p.  133,  note  on  Condition. 

255.  Dear  my  lord.     See  Gr.  13.     Cf.  the  French  cher  monsieur,  etc. 

261.  Is  Brutus  sick?  "For  sick,  the  correct  English  adjective  to  ex- 
press all  degrees  of  suffering  from  disease,  and  which  is  universally  used 
in  the  Bible  and  by  Shakespeare,  the  Englishman  of  Great  Britain  has 
poorly  substituted  the  adverb  /'//"  (W.).  Cf.  Gen.  xlviii.  1.  Sam.  xix.  14. 
xxx.  13,  etc- 


*5o 


NOTES. 


Is  it  physical  ?  Trench  {Glossary,  etc.)  says  :  "  Though  physical  has  not 
dissociated  itself  from  physics,  it  has  from  physic  and  physician,  being  used 
now  as  simply  the  equivalent  for  natural."  Cf.  the  only  other  instance  in 
which  S.  uses  the  word,  Cor.  i.  5.  19: 

"  The  blood  I  drop  is  rather  physical 
Than  dangerous  to  me." 

262.  To  walk  unbraced.     Cf.  i.  3.  48  above. 

266.  Rheumy.  Causing  "rheumatic  diseases"  (AT.  Ar.  D.  ii.  1.  105); 
used  by  S.  only  here. 

268.  Some  sick  offence.     Some  pain,  or  grief,  that  makes  you  sick. 

271.  J  charm  you.  I  conjure  you.  Cf.  R.of  L.  1681.  Pope  (followed 
by  H.)  substituted  "charge" — a  needless  and  prosaic  alteration. 

283.  But,  as  it  were,  in  sort  or  limitation.  Only  in  a  manner,  or  in  some 
limited  sense. 

289.  As  dear  to  me,  etc.  Gray  has  imitated  this  in  The  Bard:  "  Dear 
as  the  ruddy  drops  that  warm  my  heart."  Some  critics  see  here  an  an- 
ticipation of  Harvey's  discovery  of  the  circulation  of  the  blood  ;  but 
vague  notions  of  such  a  circulation  prevailed  before  Harvey's  day. 

295.  A  woman  well-reputed,  etc.  Warb.  and  St.  read,  "  A  woman,  well- 
reputed  Cato's  daughter;"  that  is,  daughter  of  the  much-esteemed  Cato. 

297.  Being  so  fathered,  etc.  As  Abbott  remarks  (Gr.  290),  "  any  noun 
or  adjective  could  be  converted  into  a  verb  by  the  Elizabethan  authors." 

308.  All  the  charactery,  etc.  The  word  charactery  occurs  also  in>J/.  //'. 
v.  5.  77 :  "  Fairies  use  flowers  for  their  charactery,"  and  with  the  same 
accent  as  here. 

309.  Who  *s  that  knocks  ?    On  the  ellipsis,  see  Gr.  244. 

313.  Vouchsafe  good  morrow,  etc.     Vouchsafe  to  receive,  etc.     Gr.  3S2. 

315.  To  wear  a  kerchief.  The  word  kerchief  { French  couvrir,  to  cover, 
and  chef,  the  head)  is  here  used  in  its  original  sense  of  a  covering  for  the 
head.  Cf.  Af.  W.iu.3.62:  "A  plain  kerchief,  Sir  John;  my  brows  be- 
come nothing  else."  As  Mai  one  remarks,  S.  here  gives  to  Rome  the 
manners  of  his  own  time,  it  being  a  common  practice  in  England  for  sick 
people  to  wear  a  kerchief  on  their  heads.  Cf.  Fuller,  Worthies:  "if  any 
there  be  sick,  they  make  him  a  posset,  and  tye  a  kerchief  on  his  beau, 
and  if  that  will  not  mend  him,  then  God  be  merciful  to  him." 

323.  Thou,  like  an  exorcist.  "  Here,  and  in  all  other  places  where  the 
word  occurs  in  S.,  to  exorcise  means  to  raise  spirits,  not  to  lay  them" 
(Mason).     See  Cymb.  iv.  2.  276,  A.  W.  v.  3.  305,  and  2  lien.  VI.  1.  4.  5. 

324.  Mortified  spirit.  The  former  word  makes  four  syllables  ;  the  latter, 
as  often,  only  one  (Gr.  463).    On  mortified—  deadened,  cf.  Hen.  I '.  i.  I.  26 : 

"The  breath  no  sooner  left  his  fathers  body, 
But  that  his  wikhiess,  mortified  in  him, 
Seem'd  to  die  too." 

331.  To  whom  it  must  be  done.  See  Gr.  208,  and  cf.  394.  II.  and  some 
Other  editors  put  a  comma  after  going,  making  To  whom,  etc.,  a  repetition 
of  What  it  is. 

Scene  II.— 1.  Have  been.     On  the  plural  verb,  cf.  Gr.  408. 

2.   Thrice  hath   Calpurnia  in  her  sleep,  etc.     Cf.  N.  (Life  of  Casar) : 


ACT  II.     SCENE  II 


151 


"  He  heard  his  wife  Calpurnia,  being  fast  asleep,  weep  and  sigh,  and  put 
forth  many  fumbling*  lamentable  speeches  :  for  she  dreamed  that  Ccrsar 
was  slain, 'and  that  she  had  him  in  her  Arms.  .  .  .  Insomuch  that  Cccsar 
rising  in  the  morning,  she  prayed  him  if  it  were  possible,  not  to  go  out  of 
the  doors  that  day,  but  to  adjourn  the  Session  of  the  Senate  untill  another 
day.  And  if  that  he  made  no  reckoning  of  her  Dream,  yet  that  he  would 
search  further  of  the  Soothsayers  by  their  Sacrifices,  to  know  what  should 
happen  him  that  day.  Thereby  it  seemed  that  Ccesar  likewise  did  fear  or 
suspect  somewhat,  because  his  Wife  Calpurnia  untill  that  time  was  never 
given  to  any  fear  and  superstition  :  and  that  then  he  saw  her  so  troubled 
in  mind  with  this  Dream  she  had.  But  much  more  afterwards,  when  the 
Soothsayers  having  sacrificed  many  Beasts  one  after  another,  told  him 
that  none  did  like  them  :t  then  he  determined  to  send  Antonius  to  adjourn 
the  Session  of  the  Senate.  But  in  the  mean  time  came  Decius  Brutus, 
surnamed  Albinus,  in  whom  Ccesar  put  such  confidence,  that  in  his  last 
Will  and  Testament  he  had  appointed  him  to  be  his  next  Heir,  and  yet 
was  of  the  conspiracy  with  Cassius  and  Brutus:  he,  fearing  that  if  Ccesar  d\d 
adjourn  the  Session  that  day,  the  conspiracy  would  be  betrayed,  laughed 
at  the  Soothsayers,  and  reproved  Ccesar,  saying,  that  he  gave  the  Senate 
occasion  to  mislike  with  him,  and  that  they  might  think  he  mocked  them, 
considering  that  by  his  commandment  they  were  assembled,  and  that  they 
were  ready  willingly  to  grant  him  all  things,  and  to  proclaim  him  King  of 
all  his  Provinces  of  the  Empire  of  Rome  out  of  Italy,  and  that  he  should 
wear  his  Diadem  in  all  other  places  both  by  Sea  and  Land.  And  further- 
more, that  if  any  man  should  tell  them  from  him,  they  should  depart  for 
that  present  time,  and  return  again  when  Calpurnia  should  have  better 
Dreams,  what  would  his  Enemies  and  ill-willers  say,  and  how  could  they 
like  of  his  Friends  words  ?" 

5.  Present.  Immediate;  as  in  R.  of  L.  1263:  "present  death,"  etc. 
For  />;w^///'/j/=itnmediately,  see  M.  of  V.  p.  131. 

6.  Success.  Probably  ~  good-fortune  (and  so  in  v.  3.  65  below)  ;  but  ex- 
plained by  Craik  as— issue.  For  the  latter  sense,  cf.  v.  3.  66  ;  also  Rich. 
III.  iv.  4.  236:  "  dangerous  success  "  (see  our  ed.  p.  232),  etc.  See  also 
Joshua,  i.8. 

13.  /  never  stood  on  ceremonies.  I  never  regarded  auguries.  See  on 
ii.  1.  197  above. 

19.  Fought.  The  folio  has  "fight,"  which  K.,  Craik,  and  the  Camb. 
ed.  retain.     Fought  was  proposed  by  D.,  and  is  adopted  by  W.  and  H. 

22.  Hurtled.     Clashed.     See  A.  Y.  L.  p.  191  ;  and  cf.  Gray,  The  Fatal 

Sisters : 

"  Iron  sleet  of  arrowy  shower 
Hurtles  in  the  darken' d  air." 

23.  Horses  did  neigh.  The  1st  folio  has  "  Horsses  do  neigh  ;"  corrected 
in  the  2d  folio.  K.  retains  "do,"  on  the  ground  that  "the  tenses  are 
purposely  confounded,  in  the  vague  terror  of  the  speaker  ;"  but,  as  Craik 
remarks,  "  no  degree  of  mental  agitation  ever  expressed  itself  in  such  a 
jumble  and  confusion  of  tenses  as  this — not  even  insanity  or  drunkenness." 

*  This  is  the  word  in  the  edition  of  1676  ;  as  quoted  by  K.,  it  is  "grumbling." 
\  That  is,  none  of  the  victims  did  please  them,  or  give  good  omens. 


152 


NOTES. 


24.  And  ghosts  did  shriek,  etc.  Cf.  the  passage  from  Hamlet  (i.  1) 
quoted  on  page  27. 

25.  Beyond  all  use.     That  is,  all  that  we  are  used  to. 

27.  Whose  end  is  purposed.     The  completion  of  which  is  designed. 

31.  Blaze  forth.  Proclaim  (cf.  ft.  and  J.  p.  191) ;  with  a  reference  also 
to  the  other  meaning,  as  in  V.  and  A.  219  :  "  Red  cheeks  and  fiery  eyes 
blaze  forth  her  wrong."     On  the  passage  cf.  I.  Hen.  VI.  i.  I.  I  fol. 

32.  Cowards  die  many  tunes,  etc.     See  p.  17  above. 

38.  JVtey  would  not  have  you  to  stir.     For  the  to,  see  Gr.  349. 

42.  Ccesar  should  be  a  beast.     On  should  —  would,  see  Gr.  322. 

46.  We  are  two  lions.  The  folio  has,  "  We  heare  two  Lyons."  The  cor- 
rection is  Upton's,  and  is  generally  adopted.     Theo.  proposed  "were." 

67.  Afeard.     Used  by  S.  interchangeably  with  afraid. 

72.  Enough  to  satisfy,  etc.     Enough  for  me  to  do  towards  that  end. 

76.  To-night.     Last  night ;  as  in  iii.  3.  1  below.     See  M.  of  V.  p.  142. 

In  this  line  the  folio  has  "  Statue,"  and  also  in  iii.  2.  186  below  :  "  Euen 
at  the  Base  of  Pompeyes  Statue  ;"  but  in  both  passages  the  editors,  with 
very  few  exceptions,  have  given  statua,  a  form  of  the  word  common  in  the 
time  of  S.  both  in  poetry  and  prose.  Bacon,  for  example,  uses  it  in  Es- 
says 27,  37,  and  45,  in  Adv.  of  Z,.  ii.  1.2;  22.  I  ;  23.  36  (M  a  statua  of  Cae- 
sar's"), and  repeatedly  (if  not  uniformly)  elsewhere.  See  Gr.  487.  Some 
print  "statue." 

78.  Lusty.     See  on  i.  2.  104  above. 

81.  And  evils  imminent.  This  is  the  folio  reading,  altered  by  Ilanmer 
and  the  Coll.  MS.  to  "Of  evils  imminent."  D.  and  H.  adopt  this  emen- 
dation, but  K.,  W.,  and  the  Camb.  ed.  retain  And. 

89.  Ear  tinctures,  stains,  etc.  "  Tinctures  and  stains  are  understood  both 
by  Malone  and  Steevens  as  carrying  an  allusion  to  the  practice  of  persons 
dipping  their  handkerchiefs  in  the  blood  of  those  whom  they  regarded  as 
martyrs.  And  it  must  be  confessed  that  the  general  strain  of  the  passage, 
and  more  especially  the  expression  'shall press  for  tinctures,' etc.,  will  not 
easily  allow  us  to  reject  this  interpretation.  Yet  does  it  not  make  the 
speaker  assign  to  Caesar  by  implication  the  very  kind  of  death  Calphnr- 
nia's  apprehension  of  which  he  professes  to  regard  as  visionary  ?  The 
pressing  for  tinctures  and  stains,  it  is  true,  would  be  a  confutation  of  so 
much  of  Calphurnia's  dream  as  seemed  to  imply  that  the  Roman  people 
would  be  delighted  with  his  death — 

'  Many  lusty  Romans 
Came  smiling,  and  did  bathe  their  hands  in  it.' 

Do  we  refine  too  much  in  supposing  that  this  inconsistency  between  the 
purpose  and  the  language  of  Decius  is  intended  by  the  pott,  and  that  in 
this  brief  dialogue  between  him  and  Cajsar,  in  which  the  latter  Buffers 
himself  to  be  so  easily  won  over — persuaded  and  relieved  In-  the  v<  1  v 
words  that  ought  naturally  to  have  confirmed  his  fears — we  aie  t«>  feel 
the  presence  of  an  unseen  power  driving  on  both  the  unconscious  prophet 
and  the  blinded  victim?"  (Craik).     Cf.  iii.  2.  131  below. 

Cognizance  (that  by  which  anything  is  hncnon)  is  an  heraldic  U 
badge.     Qt  1   Hen.  VI.  ii.  4.  108  and  Cymb.  ii.  4.  127.     Here  the  word 
may  be  plural.     See  Gr.  471. 


ACT  II.     SCENES  III.  AA'D  IV. 


T53 


97.  Apt  to  be  render'!.  Likely  to  be  made  in  reply.  H.  gives  this  strange 
explanation  :  "  It  were  apt,  or  likely,  to  be  construed  or  represented  as  a 
piece  of  mockery." 

103.  love  to  yonr  proceeding.  Affectionate  interest  in  yonr  course  of 
conduct,  or  career.  Cf.  R.  and  J.  iii.  I.  193  :  "  I  have  an  interest  in  your 
hate's  proceeding,"  etc. 

104.  And  reason  to  my  love  is  liable.  "  '  Reason,'  or  propriety  of  con- 
duct and  language,  is  subordinate  to  my  love"  (Johnson)  ;  or,  my  love 
leads  me  to  indulge  in  a  freedom  of  speech  that  my  reason  would  restrain. 

114.  '71 is  struckeu  eight.     See  on  ii.  I.  192  above. 

118.  So  to  most  noble  Cccsar.     On  so,  see  Gr.  65. 

119.  To  be  thus,  etc.     In  being  thus,  etc.     Gr.  356. 

121.  An  hour's  talk.  Here  hours  is  a  dissyllable.  See  Hen.  VIII.  p. 
197,  or  Gr.  480. 

128.  That  every  like,  etc.  "  That  to  be  like  a  thing  is  not  always  to  be 
that  thing"  (Craik).     There  is  a  reference  to  Caesar's  "  We,  like  friends." 

129.  Yearns  to  think  npon.  The  folio  has  "earnes,"  another  form  of 
the  same  word.  Cf.  Spenser,  F.  Q.  iii.  10.  21  :  "  And  ever  his  faint  hart 
much  earned  at  the  sight ;"  where  it  is  used  in  the  same  sense  as  here.  In 
F.  Q.  i.  1.  3  ("  his  heart  did  earne  To  prove  his  puissance"),  i.  6.  25  ("he 
for  revenge  did  earne"),  etc.,  it  is  used  in  its  current  sense.  In  S. yearn 
always  means  either  to  pain  (transitive)  or  to  be  pained,  to  grieve  (intrans- 
itive). Cf.  Hen.  V.  ii.  3.  3  ;  "For  Falstaff  he  is  dead,  And  we  must 
yearn  therefore  ;"  Id.  iv.  3.  26  :  "  It  yearns  me  not  if  men  my  garments 
wear  ;"  Rich.  II.  v.  5.  76:  "  O,  how  it  yearned  my  heart,"  etc.  On  the 
position  of  upon,  see  Gr.  203. 

Scene  III. — 6.  look  about  you.     On  you  following  thou,  see  Gr.  235. 

Security  gives  way  to.  Confidence,  or  carelessness,  leaves  the  way  open 
to.  Cf.  iv.  3.  39  below  ;  and  Macb.  iii.  5.  32  :  "security  Is  mortal's  chief- 
est  enemy." 

7.  lover.     Friend.     See  M.  of  V.  p.  153- 

12.  Out  of  the  teeth  of  emulation.  Safe  from  the  attacks  of  envy.  Cf. 
T.  and  C.  ii.  2.  212:  "Whilst  emulation  in  the  army  crept."  In  the 
Rheims  version  of  the  Bible  (1582),  Acts  vii.  9  reads,  "  And  the  patriarchs 
through  emulation  sold  Joseph  into  P^gypt."  Bacon,  like  S.,  uses  the 
word  in  both  a  good  and  a  bad  sense. 

14.  Contrive.  Plot.  Cf.  M.  of  V.  iv.  I.  360:  "Thou  hast  contriv'd 
against  the  very  life  ;"  Ham.  iv.  7.  136:  "  Most  generous  and  free  from 
all  contriving,"  etc.  See  also  on  contriver,  ii.  1.  158  nbove.  In  T.  of  S. 
i.  2.  278  ("  Please  you  we  may  contrive  this  afternoon"),  contrive  is  used 
in  the  sense  of  wear  away,  spend  (Latin  contero,  contrivi),  and  Walker 
makes  it  have  a  similar  meaning  (sojourning,  conterentes  lempus)  in  A. 
and  C.i.2.  189:  "our  contriving  friends  in  Rome"  (but  see  our  ed.  p. 
172).  Cf.  Spenser,  F.  Q.  ii.  9.  48:  "Three  ages,  such  as  mortall  men 
contrive." 

Scene  IV. — 3.  To  htoto  my  errand.  Steevens  compares  Rich.  III.  iv. 
4-  444  fol. 


154 


NOTES. 


6.  Constancy.  Firmness ;  as  in  ii.  I.  227,  299  nbove.  Cf.  Af.icb.  ii.  2. 
68  :  "  Your  constancy  Hath  left  you  unattended"  (that  is,  your  fortune** 
has  forsaken  you). 

9.  To  keep  counsel.  To  keep  a  secret.  Cf.  Ham.  iii.  2.  I  52  :  "the  play- 
ers cannot  keep  counsel  ;  they'll  tell  all  ;"  A.  IV.  iii.  7.  9 :  "  what  to  your 
sworn  counsel  (secrecy)  I  have  spoken."     See  also  ii.  1.  298  above. 

18.  A  bustling  rumour.  Here  w«fl«r  =  nmrinur,  noise.  Cf.  A'.  John, 
v.  4.  45  :  "  the  noise  and  rumour  of  the  field."  Drayton  uses  rutnorous 
similarly  :   "  the  Tumorous  sound  Of  the  steme  billovves." 

20.  Sooth.     In  sooth,  in  truth.     See  M.  of  V.  p.  127,  note  on  In  scoth. 

Enter  Soothsayer.  Here  Rowe  (followed  by  W.)  Substituted  "Artcmi- 
dorus."  Tyrwhitt  says  that  it  should  be  "  Artemidorus,  who  is  seen  and 
accosted  by  Portia  in  his  passage  from  his  first  stand  to  (me  more  con- 
venient." The  folio  may  be  wrong,  but  the  case  is  hardly  clear  enough 
to  justify  a  change. 

31.  Any  harm  's  intended.  Any  harm  that  is  intended.  Cf.  ii.  I.  309 
above. 

37.  / '// get  me  to  a  place  more  void.  I  Ml  betake  myself  to  a  place  more 
open  (as  opposed  to  tiarroiv).     On  get  me,  see  Gr.  296,  223. 

39.  Ay  me  I  It  is  "Aye  me  !"  in  the  folio,  but  all  the  editors  except 
Craik  and  D.  have  "Ah  me  !"  The  latter,  as  Craik  remarks,  is  a  phra>e 
that  S.  nowhere  uses.  Cf.  Milton,  fycidas,  56,  154,  Comics,  511,  /'.  L  iv. 
86,  x.  813,  etc.  Neither  Wore,  nor  Wb.  recognizes  this  ay.  The  affirma- 
tive particle  ay  or  aye  is  uniformly  printed  "I"  in  the  folio;  as  in  the 
second  line  of  the  next  scene  :  "  I  Ctcsar,  but  not  gone." 

42.  Brutus  hath  a  suit,  etc.  "This  she  addresses  in  explanation  to  the 
boy,  whose  presence  she  had  for  a  moment  forgotten"  (Craik). 


COINS   STKUCK   ON   THB   DEATH    OF   C*SAR. 


ACT  ILL     SCENE  I. 


!55 


ACT  III. 

Scene  I. — Here,  as  in  Ham.  and  A.  and  C.  (see  quotations  on  pp.  28, 
29),  the  death  of  Caesar  is  represented  as  taking  place  in  the  Capitol,  in- 
stead of  the  Curia  of  Pompey.  Cf.  N.  {Life  of  Brutus) :  "  Furthermore, 
they  [the  conspirators]  thought  also  that  the  appointment  of  the  place 
where  the  Councill  should  be  kept,  was  chosen  of  purpose  by  divine  Prov- 
idence, and  made  all  for  them.  For  it  was  one  of  the  Porches  about  the 
Theater,  in  the  which  there  was  a  certain  place  full  of  Seats  for  men  to 
sit  in;  where  also  was  set  up  the  image  of  Pompey,  which  the  City  had 
made  and  consecrated  in  honour  of  him,  when  he  did  beautifie  that  part 
of  the  City  with  the  Theater  he  built,  with  divers  Porches  about  it.  In 
this  place  was  the  assembly  of  the  Senate  appointed  to  be,  just  on  the  fif- 
teenth of  the  Moneth  March,  which  the  Romans  call,  Idus  Martias :  so 
that  it  seemed  some  god  of  purpose  had  brought  Ccesar  thither  to  be  slain, 
for  revenge  of  Pompey 's  death." 

See  also  N.  {Life  of  Ccesar) :  "And  one  Artemidorus  also  born  in  the 
Isle  of  Gnidos,  a  Doctor  of  Rhetorick  in  the  Greek  Tongue,  who  by  means 
of  his  Profession  was  very  familiar  with  certain  of  Brutus  Confederates  ; 
and  therefore  knew  the  most  part  of  all  their  practices  against  Ccesar, 
came  and  brought  him  a  little  Bill  written  with  his  own  hand,  of  all  that 
he  meant  to  tell  him.  He  marking  how  Ccesar  received  all  the  Supplica- 
tions that  were  offered  him,  and  that  he  gave  them  straight  to  his  men 
that  were  about  him  pressed  nearer  to  him,  and  said  :  Casar,  read  this 
Memorial  to  your  self,  and  that  quickly,  for  they  be  matters  of  great 
weight,  and  touch  you  nearly.  Ccesar  took  it  of  him,  but  could  never  read 
it,  though  he  many  times  attempted  it,  for  the  number  of  People  that  did 
salute  him." 

8.  What  touches  us  our  self  etc.  The  Coll.  MS.  alters  this  to  "That 
touches  us?  Ourself  shall  be  last  serv'd."  Craik  adopts  this  "specious 
but  entirely  needless  change,"  as  W.  calls  it. 

13.  I  zuish  your  enterprise  to-day  may  thrive.  Cf.  N.  {Life  of  Brutus)  : 
"Another  Senatour  called  Popilius  Lee ti a,  after  he  had  saluted  Brutus 
and  Cassius  more  friendly  than  he  was  wont  to  do,  he  rounded*  softly  in 
their  ears,  and  told  them  :  I  pray  the  goddess  you  may  go  through  with 
that  you  have  taken  in  hand  ;  but  withall,  dispatch  I  readt  you,  for  your 
enterprise  is  bewrayed.  When  he  had  said,  he  presently  departed  from 
them,  and  left  them  both  afraid  that  their  conspiracy  would  out." 

18.  Look,  how  he  makes  to  Casar:  mark  him.  See  how  he  presses 
towards  Caesar.     Mark  is  probably  a  dissyllable  here.     Or.  485. 

21.  Cassius  or  Casar,  etc.  This  is  the  folio  reading,  retained  by  K., 
D.,  H,  and  the  Camb.  ed.  Malone  proposed  "Cassius  on  Caesar," 
which  is  adopted  by  Craik  and  W.  But,  as  Ritson  remarks,  "Cassius 
says,  if  the  plot  be  discovered,  at  all  events  either  he  or  Caesar  shall 
never  return  alive  ;  for,  if  the  latter  cannot  be  killed,  he  is  determined  to 

*  See  Hen.  VIII.  p.  168,  foot-note. 

t  Read,  or  rede,  meant  to  advise  or  counsel.  We  have  the  noun  in  Ham.  L  3.  51  : 
"  And  recks  not  his  own  rede."     See  our  ed.  p.  188. 


i56 


NOTES. 


slay  himself."  Craik,  commenting  on  this,  says  that  "to  turn  back  can- 
not mean  to  return  alive,  or  to  return  in  any  way."  But  see  Rick.  III. 
iv.  4.  184:  "  Ere  from  this  war  thou  turn  a  conqueror  ;"  T.  A.  v.  2.  141  : 
"  And  tarry  wish  him  till  I  turn  again  ;"  A.  Y.  L.  iii.  1.7: 

"  Bring  him  dead  or  living 

Within  tliis  twelvemonth,  or  turn  thou  no  more 

To  seek  a  living  in  our  territory;" 

Oth.  iv.  i.  263:  "you  did  wish  that  I  would  make  her  turn," etc. 

22.  Cassias,  be  constant,  etc.  Cf.  N.  {Life  of  Brutus):  "And  when 
Cassias  and  certain  other  clapped  their  hands  on  their  Swords  to  draw 
them,  Brutus  marking  the  countenance  and  gesture  of  Lena,  and  con- 
sidering that  he  did  use  himself  rather  like  an  humble  and  earnest  suiter, 
then  like  an  accuser:  he  said  nothing  to  his  Companion  (because  there 
were  many  amongst  them  that  were  not  of  the  conspiracy),  but  with 
a  pleasant  countenance  encouraged  Cassius.  And  immediately  after, 
Lcena  went  from  Cesar,  and  kissed  his  hand  :  which  shewed  plainly  that 
it  was  for  some  matter  concerning  himself,  that  he  had  held  him  so  long 
in  talk." 

26.  He  draws  Mark  Antony  out  of  the  way.  Cf.  N.  {Life  of  Brutus)  : 
"  Trebonius  on  the  other  side  drew  Antonius  aside,  as  he  came  into  the 
house  where  the  Senate  sate,  and  held  him  with  a  long  talk  without." 

29.  He  is  addressed.  He  is  ready.  Cf.  M.  of  V.  ii.  9.  19 :  "  And  so  have 
I  address'd  me"-  (prepared  myself)  ;  2  Hen.  IV.  iv.  4.  5  :  "  Our  navy  is 
address'd  ;"  M.  N.  D.  v.  1.  107  :  "the  Prologue  is  address'd,"  etc. 

30.  Casca,you  are  the  first  that  rears  your  hand.  Cf.  Temp.  ii.  1.  295  : 
"  When  I  rear  my  hand."     On  the  construction,  see  Or.  247. 

31.  Are  we  all  ready?  In  the  folio  (so  in  K.  and  the  Camb.  ed.)  these 
words  begin  Caesar's  speech.  Ritson  proposed  to  add  them  to  China's 
speech,  but  the  Coll.  MS.  assigns  them  to  Casca,  "in  whose  mouth  they 
form  a  very  natural  rejoinder  to  what  Cinna  has  just  said."  This  latter 
arrangement  is  adopted  by  Craik,  D.,  W.,  and  H. 

On  the  remainder  of  this  scene,  cf.  N.  {Life  of  Brutus)  :  "  So  when  he 
was  set,  the  Conspiratours  flocked  about  him,  and  amongst  them  tlu  v  pi  e- 
sented  one  Titllius  Ci/nber*  who  made  humble  suit  for  the  calling  home 
again  of  his  Brother  that  was  banished.  They  all  made  as  though  they 
were  intercessours  for  him,  and  took  Cesar  by  the  hands, and  kissed  his 
head  and  breast.  Ccrsar  at  the  first,  simply  refused  their  kindness  and 
entreaties:  but  afterwards,  perceiving  they  still  pressed  on  him,  he  vio- 
lently thrust  them  from  him.  Then  Cintbcr,  with  both  his  hands  plucked 
Cesar's  Gown  over  his  shoulders,  and  Casca  that  stood  behind  him.  drew 
his  Dagger  first  and  strake  Cesar  upon  the  shoulder,  but  gave  him  no 
great  wound.  Gcemr  feeling  himself  hurt,  took  him  straight  by  the  hand 
he  held  his  1  >agger  in,  and  cried  out,  in  1  atine,  ( )  traytor  ( 'asca,  what  doest 

thou?      Casca  on  the  other  side  cried  in  Greek,  and  called  his  Brother  to 
help  him.     So  divers  running  on  a  heap  together  to  die  upon  Cesar,  he 

looking  about  him  to  have  fled,  saw  Brutus  with  a  Sword  drawn  in  his 
hands  ready  to  strike  at  him  :   then  he  let  Casca's  hand  go, and  casting  his 

*  In  the  Life  of  Cces,ir  he  is  called  Metcllus  CitrntfT,  and  in  Suetonius  (i-  82)  Cimber 
Tullrns. 


ACT  III.    SCENE  I.  157 

Gown  over  his  face,  suffered  every  man  to  strike  at  him  that  would.  Then 
the  Conspiratours  thronging  one  upon  another,  because  every  man  was 
desirous  to  have  a  cut  at  him,  so  many  Swords  and  Daggers  lighting  upon 
one  body,  one  of  them  hurt  another,  and  among  them  Brutus  caught  a 
blow  on  his  hand,  because  he  would  make  one  in  murthering  of  him,  and 
all  the  rest  also  were  every  man  of  them  bloudied.  Ccesar  being  slain  in 
this  manner,  Brutus  standing  in  the  middest  of  the  house,  would  have 
spoken  and  staied  the  other  Senatours  that  were  not  of  the  conspiracy,  to 
have  told  them  the  reason  why  they  had  done  this  fact.  But  they  as  men 
both  afraid  and  amazed,  fled,  one  upon  anothers  neck  in  hast  to  get  out 
at  the  door,  and  no  man  followed  them.  For  it  was  set  clown,  and  agreed 
between  them,  that  they  should  kill  no  man  but  Ccrsar  onely,  and  should 
intreat  all  the  rest  to  look  to  defend  their  liberty." 

33.  Puissant.  Always  a  dissyllable  in  S.,  though  puissance  is  some- 
times a  trisyllable.  Cf.  2  Hen.  IV.  i.  3.  9 :  "Upon  the  power  and  puis- 
sance of  the  king  ;"  and  Id.  i.  3.  77  :  "And  come  against  us  in  full  puis- 
sance." In  Spenser  we  find  (K  Q.  iv.  11.  15)  "Of  puissant  Nations 
which  the  world  possest,"  and  {F.  Q.  v.  2.  7)  "  For  that  he  is  so  puissant 
and  strong." 

36.  These  couchings.  The  Coll.  MS.  has  "  crouchings,"  which  Craik 
says  "  does  not  admit  of  a  doubt."  But  Sr.  remarks  that  "couching  had 
the  same  meaning  as  crouching;  thus  Huloet:  'Cowche,  like  a  dogge  ; 
procumbo, prosterno.'' ' "  Cf.  also  Gen.  xlix.  14.  K.,  U.,  W.,  H.,  and  the 
Camb.  ed.  retain  couchings. 

39.  Into  the  law  of  children.  The  folio  reads  "the  lane  of  Children," 
a  misprint  which  Johnson  corrected. 

Be  not  fond,  etc.  Be  not  so  foolish  as  to  think,  etc.  See  M.  of  V.  pp. 
146,  152,  and  Gr.  281.     On  such  .  .  .  that,  see  Gr.  279. 

43.  Low-crooked  curtsies.  The  Coll.  MS.  has  "  Low-crouched,"  which 
Craik  adopts.  But  "low-crooked  is  the  same  as  low-crouched ;  for  Huloet 
has  *  crooke-backed  or  crow,  he-backed?  and  to  crook  was  to  bow"  (Sr.).  See 
Temp.  p.  120,  note  on  Curtsied. 

47.  Know  Ccesar  doth  not  wrong,  etc.  Ben  Jonson,  in  his  Discoveries, 
speaking  of  Shakespeare,  says  :  "  Many  times  he  fell  into  those  things 
could  not  escape  laughter  ;  as  when  he  said  in  the  person  of  Caesar,  one 
speaking  to  him,  'Caesar,  thou  dost  me  wrong,'  he  replied, 'Caesar  did 
never  wrong  but  with  just  cause.'"  And  he  ridicules  the  expression 
again  in  his  Staple  of  News :  "  Cry  you  mercy  ;  you  never  did  wrong  but 
with  just  cause."  Craik  believes  that  the  words  stood  originally  as  Jon- 
son has  given  them  ;  but,  as  Collier  suggests,  Jonson  was  probably  speak- 
ing only  from  memory,  which,  as  he  himself  says,  was  "shaken  with  age 
now,  and  sloth,"  and  misquoted  the  passage. 

51.  The  repealing  of  my  banish' 'd  brother.  That  is,  his  recall.  Both  the 
verb  and  the  noun  (see  the  next  speech)  are  often  used  by  S.  in  this  sense. 
Cf.  Rich.  II.  iv.  1.  87  :  "  Till  Norfolk  be  repeal'd  :  repeaVd  he  shall  be  ;" 
Cor.  v.  5.  5  :  "  Repeal  him  with  the  welcome  of  his  mother  ;"  Id.  iv.  1.41  : 
"A  cause  for  thy  repeal ;"  R.ofL.  640:  "I  sue  for  exiled  majesty's  repeal." 
60.  But  I  am  constant,  etc.  Cf.  i.  2,  208:  "  But  always  I  am  Caesar." 
67.  Apprehensive.     Endowed  with  apprehension  or  intelligence.     Cf. 


i58 


NOTES. 


2  lien.  IV.  iv.  3.  107  :  "  Makes  it  (the  brain)  apprehensive,  quick,  forge- 
tive  (inventive)  ;"  B.  and  F.,  Philaster,  v.  1  :  "as  I  did  grow  More  and 
more  apprehensive,"  etc. 

69.  Holds  on  his  rank,  etc.  Continues  to  "  hold  his  place"  (like  the 
star),  resisting  every  attempt  to  move  him.  Unshaked  of  motion  might 
mean  unshaken  in  his  motion  (Gr.  173),  but  that  would  not  be  in  keep- 
ing with  the  simile  of  the  pole-star. 

77.  El  lu,  Brule !  "There  is  no  ancient  Latin  authority,  I  believe,  for. 
this  famous  exclamation,  although  in  Suetonius,  i.  82,  Caesar  is  made  to 
address  Brutus  Kai  (tv,tikvov;  (And  thou  too,  my  son?).  It  may  have 
occurred  as  it  stands  here  in  the  Latin  play  on  the  same  subject  which  is 
recorded  to  have  been  acted  at  Oxford  in  1582  ;  and  it  is  found  in  The 
Title  Tragedy  of  Richard  Duke  of  York,  first  printed  in  1 595,  on  which  3 
I  fen.  VI.  is  founded,  as  also  in  a  poem  by  S.  Nicholson,  entitled  Acolastus 
his  Afterwit,  printed  in  1600,  in  both  of  which  nearly  contemporary  pro- 
ductions we  have  the  same  line — ' Et In,  Brute?  Wilt  thou  stab  I 
too?'"  (Craik).     It  is  in  the  Latin  play  of  1582. 

90.  Cheer.     On  the  literal  meaning  (  =  face),  see  M.  of  V.  p.  152. 

93.  Lest  that.     On  that  as  a  "conjunctional  affix,"  see  Gr.  2Sj. 

95.  Abide  this  deed.  That  is,  answer  for  it,  be  held  responsible  for  it. 
Cf.  iii.  2.  1 12  below.  A  by  was  used  in  the  same  sense  ;  as  in  M.  Ar.  D.  iii. 
2.  175:  "Lest  to  thy  peril  thou  aby  it  dear.'  This  aby  is  frequent  in 
Spenser.  See  F.  Q.  ii.  8.  28:  "His  life  for  dew  revenge  should  deare 
abye  ;"  also  Id.  iii.  4.  38,  iii.  10.  3,  iv.  1.  53,  iv.  6.  8,  etc. 

96.  But  we.  Cf.  Ham.  i.  4.  54  :  "  Making  night  hideous,  and  we,"  etc. 
Gr.  216. 

99.  As  it  were  doomsday.     As  */"it  were.     Gr.  107. 

102.  Why,  he  that  cuts  off,  etc.  The  folio  gives  this  speech  to  Casca,  but 
some  of  the  editors  have  transferred  it  to  Cassius.  As  II.  remarks,  "  the 
sentiment  is  in  strict  keeping  with  what  Casca  says  in  i.  3.  100  above: 
'  So  every  bondman  in  his  own  hand  bears,'  etc." 

1 14.  In  states  unborn.  The  1st  folio  has  "  State,"  and  just  below  "  lye 
along;"  both  corrected  in  2d  folio. 

116.  On  Pompey's  basis  lies  along.  Lies  prostrate  at  the  base  of  l\»m- 
pey's  statue.  Cf.  Cor.  v.  6.  57  :  "  When  he  lies  along,"  etc.  See  also 
Judges,  vii.  13. 

122.  Most  boldest.    Cf.  iii.  2.  181  below  :  "  most  unkindest,"  etc.    Gr.  tl. 

132.  Be  resolv\t.  Have  his  doubts  resolved  or  removed  ;  be  satisfied. 
Cf.  iii.  2.  177  and  iv.  2.  14  below. 

137.   Thoiough.     Through.     See  Af.ofV.p.  144,  note  on  Throughfares. 

141.    Tell  him,  so  please  him  come.      Sec  Gt.  133,  297.  and  349. 

144.  We  shall  have  him  ivell  to  friend.  See  Temp.  p.  124,  note  on  A 
paragon  to  their  queen.     Gr.  189.  ( 

146.  My  misgiving  still  Falls  shrewdly  to  the  purpose.  Mv  suspicions 
are  alwavs  shrewd  enough  to  hit  the  mark.     On  still,  see  .1/.  of  V,  p.  I2& 

153.  Be  let  blood.  Be  bled  ;  that  is.  put  to  death.  Cf.  Rich,  III.  iii.  I. 
183,  T.and  C.  ii.  3.  222,  Cymb.  iv.  2.  16S,  etc.  Rank  --sick  from  repletion; 
a>  in  Souit.  11S.  12  (see  our  ed.  p.  170),  2  Hen.  //'.  iv.  1.64,  etc. 

j  S<>.  Of  half  that  worth  as.     See  Gr.  s8<x 


ACT  III.    SCENE  I. 


*59 


the  folio 


158.  /  do  beseech  ye,  if  yon  bear  me  bard.  On  the  pronouns,  see  Gr. 
236.     For  bear  me  hard,  see  on  i.  2.  303  above. 

160.  Live  a  thousand  years.  Cf.  M.  of  V.  iii.  2.  61  :  "  Live  thou,  I  live  ;" 
and  see  Gr.  361. 

161.  Apt  to  die.     Ready  or  disposed  to  die. 

162.  No  mean  of  death.     On  wtvw  =  means,  see  Hen.  VIII.  p.  201. 
164.  The  choice  and  master  spirits.     Craik  thinks  that  choice  may  be 

either  noun  or  adjective,  but  it  is  pretty  certainly  the  latter.  We  have 
the  expression  "  choice  spirits"  in  I  Hen.  VI.  v.  3.  3. 

172.  A*  fire,  etc.  The  hist  fire  is  a  dissyllable,  the  second  a  monosyl- 
lable. See  Gr.  480,  and  cf.  475.  For  the  simile,  cf../'.  and  J.  i.  2.  46  : 
"one  fire  burns  out  another's  burning;"  Cor.  iv.  7.  54:  "One  fire  drives 
out  one  fire  ;"  T.  G.  of  V.  ii.  4.  192  :  "  Even  as  one  heat  another  heat  ex- 
pels," etc. 

175.  Our  arms,  in  strength  of  malice,  etc.     The  passage  stands  thus  in 

Our  Armes  in  strength  of  malice,  and  our  Hearts 

Of  Brothers  temper,  do  receiue  you  in, 

With  all  kinde  loue,  good  thoughts,  and  reuerence." 

Pope  reads  "exempt  from  malice;"  Capell  and  D.,  "no  strength  of 
malice;"  the  Coll.  MS.  and  Craik, "in  strength  of  welcome."  Sr.  (fol- 
lowed by  H.)  suggested  "in  strength  of  amity."  K.,  W.,  and  Wr.  retain 
the  folio  reading,  and  W.  remarks  :  "  The  difficulty  found  in  this  passage, 
which  even  Mr,  Dyce  suspects  to  be  corrupt,  seems  to  result  from  a  for- 
getfulness  of  the  preceding  context: 

"  '  Though  now  we  must  appear  bloody  and  cruel, 
As  by  our  hands,  and  this  our  present  act. 
You  see  we  do ;    yet  you  see  but  our  hands, 
And  this  the  bleeding  business  they  have  done. 
Our  hearts  you  see  not ;  they  are  pitiful ; 
And  pity  to  the  general  wrong  of  Rome,'  etc. 

So  {Brutus  continues)  our  arms,  even  in  the  intensity  of  their  hatred  to 
Ccesar's  tyranny,  and  our  hearts  in  their  brotherly  love  to  all  Romans,  do 
receive  you  in."  Wr.  explains  thus:  "strong  as  if  nerved  by  malice 
against  you,  the  death  grip  of  enemies  being  stronger  than  the  most  lov- 
ing embrace.     See  also  p.  192  below. 

182.  Deliver.  Declare,  relate.  See  Temp.  p.  144,  and  Hen.  VIII.  pp. 
163,  176. 

185.  Render,  etc.     "Give  me  back  in  return  for  mine"  (Craik). 

190.  Though  last,  not  least  in  love.  Cf.  Lear,  i.  1.  85  (quarto):  "Al- 
though the  last,  not  least  in  our  dear  love."  Spenser  has  "  though  last, 
not  least"  in  Colin  Clout  V  Come  Home  Again,  published  in  1595. 

193.  Conceit.     See  on  i.  3.  161  above. 

197.  Dearer.     More  intensely.     See  Temp.  p.  124,  note  on  133. 

205.  Bayed.  That  is,  "brought  to  bay,"  or  hemmed  in  by  enemies  as 
a  hart  by  the  hounds.     See  Rich.  II.  p.  186,  note  on  127. 

207.  Crimsoned  in  thy  lethe.  "  Crimson'd  in  the  stream  that  bears  thee 
to  oblivion"  (W.)  The  Coll.  MS.  alters  lethe  to  "  death,"  which  H.  adopts, 
("oil.  himself,  in  his  2d  edition,  restores  lethe,  which  is  also  given  by  K., 
D.,  St.,  and  the  Camb.  ed. 


T6o  NOTES. 

208.  209.  O  world,  etc.  Coleridge  doubted  the  genuineness  of  these 
two  lines,  both  on  account  of  the  rhythm,  "  which  is  not  Shakespearian,*1 
and  because  they  interrupt  the  sense  and  connection  and  "the  Shake- 
spearian link  of  association."  He  adds:  "  I  venture  to  say  there  is 
no  instance  in  Shakespeare  fairly  like  this.  Conceits  he  lias;  but  they 
not  only  rise  out  of  some  word  in  the  lines  before,  but  also  lead  to  the 
thought  in  the  lines  following.  Here  the  conceit  is  a  mere  alien  :  An- 
tony forgets  an  image  when  he  is  even  touching  it,  and  then  recollects  it, 
when  the  thought  last  in  his  mind  must  have  led  him  away  from  it."  We 
have  the  same  quibble  in  A.  Y.  L.  iii.  2.  260  and  T.  N.  i.  1.  21. 

210.  Struckett,   The  folio  has  "stroken,"  and  in  183  "strooke"  fax  struck. 

214.  Modesty.  Moderation.  Cf.  T.  ofS. ind.  1.68:  "if  it  be  husbanded 
with  modesty,"  etc. 

216.  Compact.     On  the  accent,  see  Gr.  490. 

217.  Prkk\l.  Marked.  Cf.  iv.  I.  I,  3,  16  below.  See  also  2  Hen.  IV. 
p.  172. 

225.  So  full  of  good  regard.  "  So  full  of  what  is  entitled  to  favourable 
regard"  (Craik).     Cf.  iv.  2.  12  below. 

229.  Produce.  Bear  forth,  bring  out ;  as  in  1  Hen.  VI.  i.  4.  40,  Lear,  v. 
3.  230,  etc. 

236.  By  your  pardon.     By  your  leave,  I  will  explain. 

242.  Have  all  t/ue  riles.  Pope,  1).,  and  H.  read  "due  rites,"  but,  as 
Coll.  says,  "the  change  seems  rather  for  the  worse." 

258.  7V/e  tide  of  times.  "The  course  of  times"  (Johnson).  As  Craik 
remarks,  **  tide  and  time  properly  mean  the  same  thing."  Cf.  Spenser, 
F.  Q.  i.  2.  29 :  "  and  rest  their  weary  limbs  a  tide  ;"  Id.  iii.  6.  21  :  "mine 
may  be  your  paine  another  tide;"  lit.  iii.  9.  32:  "glad  of  so  fitte  tide 
Him  to  commend,"  etc.  The  word  still  has  this  sense  in  eventide,  spring- 
tide, etc. 

259.  Hands.  The  folio  has  "hand,"  which  K.  retains;  but  cf.  159 
above. 

263.  The  limbs  of  men.  The  folio  reading,  retained  by  K.,  W.,  and  H. 
W.,  however,  is  "  almost  sure"  that  S.  wrote  "  the  founts  of  men."  Wai  b. 
proposed  "line,"  Hanmer  "kind,"  Johnson  "lives"  or  "  lvmms,"*  the 
Coll.  MS.  "loins"  (which  Craik  adopts),  Walker  "times,"  St.  "tombs," 
and  Swynfen  Jervis  (whom  D.  follows)  "minds." 

269.  With  'the  hands.  Here  with— by,  as  often.  Gr.  193.  Cf.  iii.  2. 
195  below.      See  also  Hen.  17//.  p.  193. 

272.  With  Ate  l>r  his  side.  Craik  remarks  that  "this  Homeric  goddess 
had  taken  a  strong  hold  of  Shakespeare's  imagination."  See  Much  Ado, 
ii.  1.  263:  "the  infernal  Ate;"  L.  L.  L.  v.  2.  694:  "more  Ates,  more 
Ates  ;"  A'.  John,  ii.  1.  63  :  "an  Ate  stirring  him  to  blood  and  strife." 

274.  Cry  ' Havoc t  In  old  times  this  cry  was  the  signal  that  no  quar- 
ter was  to  be  given.     Cf.  Cor.  iii.  1.  275  : 

*  "That  is,"  he  adds,"  these  bloodhounds  of  men."    S.  uses  the  word  in  I.enr.  iii.  6.  72: 
"  M.istiiV.  greyhound  mongrel  Brink 
I  Idiiiid  or  spaniel,  brack  0*  lym  *' 
The  old  copies  have  "him"  or  "hym,"  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  these  are  mis- 
prints tor  "lym." 


ACT  III.     SCENE  II.  l6l 

"Do  not  cry  havoc,  where  you  should  but  hunt 
With  modest  warrant." 

The  dogs  of  war.  Steele  {Tat/er,  No.  137)  suggests  that  by  "  the  dogs 
of  war"  S.  probably  meantyfrr,  szuord,  and  famine.    Cf.  Hen.  V.  i.  chor.  5  : 

"Then  should  the  warlike  Harry,  like  himself, 
Assume  the  port  of  Mars ;  and,  at  his  heels, 
Leash' d  in  like  hounds,  should  Famine,  Sword,  and  Fire 
Crouch  for  employment'' 

See  also  I  Hen.  VI.  iv.  2.  10  : 

"You  tempt  the  fury  of  my  three  attendants, 
Lean  Famine,  quartering  Steel,  and  climbing  Fire." 

275.  That  this  foul  deed.     So  that,  etc.     Gr.  283. 

284.  Passion,  I  see,  is  catching.  That  is,  emotion  is  contagious.  See 
on  i.  2. 45  above. 

For  mine  eyes.  The  1st  folio  has  "from  mine  eyes  ;"  corrected  in  2d 
folio.     D.  and  H.  alter  began  in  the  next  line  to  "  begin." 

290.  No  Koine  of  safety..     See  on  i.  2.  152  above. 

296.  The  which.     See  M.  of  V.  p.  133,  on  For  the  which. 

Scene  II. — On  this  scene,  and  the  next,  cf.  N.  [Life  of  Brutus) :  "Now, 
at  the  first  time  when  the  murther  was  newly  done,  there  were  suddain 
outcries  of  People  that  ran  up  and  down  the  City,  the  which  indeed  did 
the  more  increase  the  fear  and  tumult.  But  when  they  saw  they  slew  no 
man,  neither  did  spoil  nor  make  havock  of  anything,  then  certain  of  the 
Senatours,  and  many  of  the  People  emboldening  themselves,  went  to  the 
Capitoll  unto  them.  There  a  great  number  of  men  being  assembled  to- 
gether one  after  another,  Brutus  made  an  Oration  unto  them  to  win  the 
favour  of  the  People,  and  to  justify  that  they  had  done.  All  those  that 
were  by,  said  they  had  done  well,  and  cried  unto  them,  that  they  should 
boldly  come  down  from  the  Capitoll :  whereupon  Brutus  and  his  Com- 
panions came  boldly  down  into  the  Market-place.  The  rest  followed  in 
Troop,  but  Brutus  went  foremost,  very  honourably  compassed  in  round 
about  with  the  noblest  men  of  the  City,  which  brought  him  from  the  Cap- 
itoll, through  the  Market-place,  to  the  Pulpit  for  Orations.  When  the 
People  saw  him  in  the  Pulpit,  although  they  were  a  multitude  of  rake-hels 
of  all  sorts,  and  had  a  good  will  to  make  some  stir  :  yet  being  ashamed  to 
do  it,  for  the  reverence  they  bare  unto  Brutus,  they  kept  silence  to  hear 
what  he  would  say :  when  Brutus  began  to  speak,  they  gave  him  quiet 
audience  :  Howbeit  immediately  after,  they  shewed  that  they  were  not  all 
contented  with  the  murther.  For  when  another  called  Cinna  would  have 
spoken,  and  began  to  accuse  Ccesar,  they  fell  into  a  great  uprore  among 
them,  and  marvellously  reviled  him.  Insomuch  that  the  Conspiratours 
returned  again  into  the  Capitoll.  There  Brutus  being  afraid  to  be  be- 
sieged, sent  back  again  the  Noblemen  that  came  thither  with  him,  think- 
fng  it  no  reason,  that  they  which  were  no  partakers  of  the  murther,  should 
be  partakers  of  the  danger.  .  .  . 

"  Then  Antonius  thinking  good  his  Testament  should  be  read  openly, 
and  also  that  his  body  should  be  honourably  buried,  and  not  in  huggei 

L 


1 62  NOTES. 

mugger,*  lest  the  People  might  thereby  take  occasion  to  be  worse  offend- 
ed if  they  did  otherwise :  Cassius  stoutly  spake  against  it.  But  Brutus 
went  with  the  motion,  and  agreed  unto  it  :  wherein  it  seemeth  he  com- 
mitted a  second  fault.  For  the  first  fault  he  did,  was  when  he  would  not 
consent  to  his  fellow  Conspiratours  that  Antonius  should  be  slain :  and 
therefore  he  was  justly  accused,  that  thereby  he  had  saved  and  strength- 
ened a  strong  and  grievous  Enemy  of  their  conspiracy.  The  second  Suit 
was,  when  he  agreed  that  Ccesars  Funerals  should  be  as  Antonius  would 
have  them,  the  which  indeed  marred  all.  For  first  of  all,  when  Ccesars 
Testament  was  openly  read  among  them,  whereby  it  appeared  that  he  be- 
queathed unto  every  Citizen  of  Rome  seventy -five  Drachma's  a  man; 
and  that  he  left  his  Gardens  and  Arbors  unto  the  People,  which  he  had 
on  this  side  of  the  River  Tyber,  in  the  place  where  now  the  Temple  of 
P'ortune  is  built :  the  people  then  loved  him,  and  were  marvellous  sorry 
for  him.  Afterwards  when  Ccesars  body  was  brought  into  the  Market- 
place, Antonius  making  his  Funerall  Oration  in  praise  of  the  dead,  accord- 
ing to  the  ancient  Custom  of  Rome,  and  perceiving  that  his  words  moved 
the  common  People  to  compassion,  he  framed  his  Eloquence  to  make 
their  hearts  yearn  the  more  ;  and  taking  Ccesars  Gown  all  bloudy  in  his 
hand,  he  layed  it  open  to  the  sight  of  them  all,  shewing  what  a  number 
of  cuts  and  holes  it  had  upon  it.  Therewithall  the  People  fell  presently 
into  such  a  rage  and  mutiny,  that  there  was  no  more  order  kept  amongst 
the  common  People.  For  some  of  them  cried  out,  Kill  the  murtherers  : 
others  plucked  up  Forms,  Tables,  and  Stalls  about  the  Market-place,  as 
they  had  done  before  at  the  funerals  of  Clodius  ;  and  having  laid  them  all 
on  a  heap  together,  they  set  them  on  fire,  and  thereupon  did  put  the  Body 
of  Ccesar,  and  burnt  it  in  the  middest  of  the  most  holy  places.  And  Fur- 
thermore, when  the  fire  was  thoroughly  kindled,  some  here,  some  there, 
took  burning  Fire-brands,  and  ran  with  them  to  the  Murtherers  houses 
that  killed  him,  to  set  them  on  fire.  Howbeit,  the  Conspiratours  foresee- 
ing the  danger,  before  had  wisely  provided  for  themselves,  and  fled.  But 
there  was  a  Poet  called  China,  who  had  been  no  partaker  of  the  conspir- 
acy, but  was  alway  one  of  Ccesars  chiefest  friends  :  he  dreamed  the  night 
before,  that  Ccvsar  bad  him  to  supper  with  him,  and  that  he  refusing  to  go, 
Owrwas  very  importunate  with  him,  and  compelled  him,  so  that  at  length 
he  led  him  by  the  hand  into  a  great  dark  place,  where  l>eing  marvellously 
afraid,  he  was  driven  to  follow  him  in  spite  of  his  heart.  This  dream  put 
him  all  night  into  a  Feaver,  and  yet  notwithstanding,  the  next  morning 
when  he  heard  that  they  carried  Grsars  body  to  buriall,  being  ashamed 
not  to  accompany  his  Funerals,  he  went  out  of  his  house,  and  thrust  him- 
self into  the  preass  of  the  common  People,  that  were  in  a  great  uproar. 
And  because  some  one  called  him  by  his  name,  Cinna :  the  People  think- 
ing he  had  been  that  Cinna,  who  in  an  Oration  he  made,  had  spoken  very 
ill  of  Ge'.ir,  they  falling  upon  him  in  their  rage,  slew  him  outright  in  the 
Market-place." 
4.  Part  //if  numbers.     "  Divide  the  multitude"  (Craik). 

*  Cf.  Ham.  iv.  5.  84  (see  our  ed.  p.  148)  : 

".iiul  \\<-  h»Vfl  done  hut  greenly 
lu  bugger-mugger  to  inter  him." 


ACT  III.    SCENE  II.  163 

7.  Rendered.     Given.     For  the  trisyllable,  see  Gr.  474. 

9.  And  compare.     And  we  will  compare.     Gr.  399. 

12.  Be  patient  till  the  last.  Many  brief  quotations  from  the  folio  have 
been  given  in  our  notes,  but  the  reader  may  like  to  see  a  longer  extract, 
as  an  illustration  of  the  orthography  and  typography  of  that  edition.  The 
speech  of  Brutus  appears  there  as  follows  : 

Bru.  Be  patient  till  the  last. 
Romans,  Countrey-men,  and  Louers,  heare  mee  for  my  cause,  and  be  silent,  that  you 
may  heare.  Beleeue  me  for  mine  Honor,  and  haue  respect  to  mine  Honor,  that  you 
may  beleeue.  Censure  me  in  your  Wisedom,  and  awake  your  Senses,  that  you  may  the 
better  ludge.  If  there  bee  any  in  this  Assembly,  any  deere  Friend  of  Ccesars,  to  him  I 
say,  that  Brutus  loue  to  Ccesar,  was  no  lesse  then  his.  If  then,  that  Friend  demand, 
why  Brutus  rose  against  Ccesar,  this  is  my  answer :  Not  that  1  lou'd  Ccesar  lesse,  but 
that  I  lou'd  Rome  more.  Had  you  rather  Ccesar  were  liuing,  and  dye  all  6"laues  ;  then 
that  Ccesar  were  dead,  to  liue  all  Free-men  ?  As  Ccesar  lou'd  mee,  I  weepe  for  him  ;  as 
he  was  Fortunate,  I  reioyce  at  it ;  as  he  was  Valiant,  I  honour  him  :  But,  as  he  was 
Ambitious,  I  slew  him.  There  is  Teares,  for  his  Loue  :  Ioy,  for  his  Fortune :  Honor, 
for  his  Valour :  and  Death,  for  his  Ambition.  Who  is  heere  so  base,  that  would  be  a 
Bondman?  If  any,  speak,  for  him  haue  I  offended.  Who  is  heere  so  rude,  that  would 
not  be  a  Roman  ?  If  any,  speak,  for  him  haue  I  offended.  Who  is  heere  so  vile,  that  will 
not  loue  his  Countrey  ?     If  any,  speake,  for  him  haue  I  offended.     I  pause  for  a  Reply. 

All.   None  Btutus,  none. 

Brutus.  Then  none  haue  I  offended.  I  haue  done  no  more  to  Ccesar,  then  you  shall 
do  to  Brutus.  The  Question  of  his  death,  is  inroll'd  in  the  Capitoll :  his  Glory  not  ex- 
tenuated, wherein  he  was  worthy  ;  nor  his  offences  enforc'd,  for  which  he  suffered  death. 

Enter  Mark  A  ntony,  with  Ccesars  body. 

Heere  comes  his  Body,  mourn'd  by  Marke  Antony,  who  though  he  had  no  hand  in  his 
death,  shall  receiue  the  benefit  of  his  dying,  a  place  in  the  Comonwealth,  as  which  of  you 
shall  not.     With  this  I  depart,  that  as  I  slewe  my  best  Louer  for  the  good  of  Rome,  I 
haue  the  same  Dagger  for  my  selfe,  when  it  shall  please  my  Country  to  need  my  death. 
All.   Liue  Brutus,  line,  liue. 

1.  Bring  him  with  Triumph  home  vnto  his  house. 

2.  Giue  him  a  Statue  with  his  Ancestors. 

3.  Let  him  be  Ccesar. 

4.  Ccesars  better  parts, 
Shall  be  Crown'd  in  Brutus. 

1.  Wee'l  bring  him  to  his  House, 
With  Showts  and  Clamors. 

Bru.  My  Country-men. 

2.  Peace,  silence,  Brutus  speakes. 
1.  Peace  ho. 

Bru.  Good  Countrymen,  let  me  depart  alone, 
And  (for  my  sake)  stay  heere  with  A  ntony : 
Do  grace  to  Ccesars  Corpes,  and  grace  his  Speech 
Tending  to  Ccesars  Glories,  which  Marke  A  ntony 
(By  our  permission)  is  allow'd  to  make. 
I  do  intreat  you,  not  a  man  depart, 
Saue  I  alone,  till  A  ntony  have  spoke.  Exit 

Upon  this  speech  of  Brutus,  Knight,  after  quoting  Hazlitt's  remark 
(see  p.  13  above)  that  it  is  "  not  so  good"  as  Antony's,  comments  as  fol- 
lows :  "In  what  way  is  it  not  so  good?  As  a  specimen  of  eloquence,  put 
by  the  side  of  Antony's,  who  can  doubt  that  it  is  tame,  passionless,  severe, 
and  therefore  ineffective?  But  as  an  example  of  Shakespeare's  wonder- 
ful power  of  characterization,  it  is  beyond  all  praise.  It  was  the  consum- 
mate artifice  of  Antony  that  made  him  say, 4 1  am  no  orator,  as  Brutus  is.' 
Brutus  was  not  an  orator.  ...  He  is  a  man  of  just  intentions,  of  calm  an- 


164 


NOTES. 


derstanding,  of  settled  purpose,  when  his  principles  are  to  become  actions. 
But  his  notion  of  oratory  is  this  : 

"  '  I  will  myself  into  the  pulpit  first, 

And  show  the  reason  of  our  Cassar's  death.' 

And  he  does  show  the  reason.  .  .  .  He  expects  that  Antony  will  speak 
with  equal  moderation — all  good  of  Caesar — no  blame  of  Caesar's  murder- 
ers ;  and  he  thinks  it  an  advantage  to  speak  before  Antony.  He  knew  not 
what  oratory  really  is.     But  Shakespeare  knew,  and  he  painted  Antony." 

So  far  as  the  mere  style  of  the  speech  is  concerned,  we  think  that  War- 
burton  was  right  in  considering  it  an  "  imitation  of  his  famed  laconic  brev- 
ity." Cf.  N.  {Life  of  Brutus) :  "  they  do  note  in  some  of  his  Epistles,  that 
he  counterfeited  that  brief  compendious  manner  of  speech  of  the  Lace- 
daemonians. As  when  the  War  was  begun,  he  wrote  unto  the  Perga- 
menians  in  this  sort :  I  understand  you  have  given  Dolabella  money  :  if 
you  have  done  it  willingly,  you  confess  you  have  offended  me  ;  if  against 
your  wills,  show  it  then  by  giving  me  willingly.  Another  time  again  unto 
the  Samians  :  Your  counsels  be  long,  your  doings  be  slow,  consider  the 
end.  And  in  another  Epistle  he  wrote  unto  the  Patareians  :  the  Xan- 
THIANS  despising  my  good  will,  have  made  their  Countrey  a  grave  of 
despair,  and  the  Patareians  that  put  themselves  into  my  protection, 
have  lost  no  jot  of  their  liberty  :  and  therefore  whitest  you  have  liberty, 
either  chuse  the  judgement  of  the  Patareians,  or  the  fortune  of  the  Xan- 
thians.  These  were  Brutus  manner  of  letters,  which  were  honoured  for 
their  briefness."  In  the  Dialogus  de  Oratoribus  also  it  is  said  that  Brutus's 
oratory  was  censured  as  "  otiosum  et  disjunctum  ;"  and,  as  Verplanck  re- 
marks, "  the  disjunctum,  the  broken-up  style,  without  oratorical  continu- 
ity, is  precisely  that  assumed  by  the  dramatist." 

We  are  not  aware  that  any  commentator  has  called  attention  to  the 
fact  that  S.  has  made  Brutus  express  himself  in  a  somewhat  similar  style 
in  the  speech  in  i.  2.  158  fol. :  "That  you  do  love  me  I  am  nothing  jeal- 
ous," etc. 

13.  And  lovers.     See  on  ii.  3.  7  above. 

15.  Have  respect  to  my  honour.     That  is,  look  to  it,  consider  it. 

Censure  me.  That  is,  judge  me.  See  Much  Ado,  p.  139.  Cf.  Flam. 
i.  3.  69  :  "  Take  each  man's  censure,  but  reserve  thy  judgment ;"  Bacon, 
Adv.  of  L.  ii.  introd.  15  :  "  many  will  conceive  and  censure  that  some  of 
them  are  already  done,"  etc. 

26.  There  is  tears.     See  Temp.  p.  122,  note  on  476. 

35.  The  question  of  his  death.  A  statement  of  the  reasons  why  he  was 
put  to  death  (the  answer  to  that  question). 

37.  Enforced.  Cf.  A.  and  C.  v.  2.  125,  where,  as  here,  the  word  is  op- 
posed to  extenuate:  "We  will  extenuate  rather  than  enforce." 

49.  Shall  nolo  be  crowrfd.  The  folio  (see  extract  above)  has  "Shall 
be."     Pope  added  now,  and  the  emendation  is  generally  adopted. 

55.  Dogiace.    Show  respect,  do  honour.    Cf.  the  verb  in  iii.  1.  121  above. 

56.  Glories.    D.  and  H.  adopt  Walker's  suggestion  of  "glory." 

59.  Save  I  alone.     The  expression  occurs  also  in  T  N.  iii.  1.  172.     Cf. 
v.  5.69  below.     Gr.  118. 
63.  Beholding.     Beholden.     See  M.  of  V.  p.  135.     Gr.  372. 


ACT  III.    SCENE  II.  ^5 

72.  Bury.  "  S.  was  no  doubt  thinking  of  his  own  time  and  country. 
The  custom  of  burning  the  dead  had  not  been  in  use  in  Rome  very  long 
before  the  time  of  Caesar"  (Wr.). 

73.  The  evil  that  men  do,  etc.     Cf.  Hen.  VIII.  iv.  2.  45  : 

"  Men's  evil  manners  live  in  brass ;  their  virtues 
We  write  in  water." 

89.  When  that.     See  on  iii.  1.  93  above. 

10 1.  To  mourn.     From  mourning.     Cf.  Gr.  356. 

108.  Has  he,  masters?  Capell  suggested  "my  masters,"  and  Craik 
and  H.  read  "  Has  he  not,  masters  ?" 

112.  Abide  it.     See  on  iii.  I.  95  above. 

114.  A  nobler  man.     W.  misprints  "  a  bolder  man." 

118.  And  none  so  poor,  etc.  "  The  meanest  man  is  now  too  high  to  do 
reverence  to  Caesar"  (Johnson).     On  the  ellipsis  of  as,  see  Gr.  281. 

128.  The  commons.     The  common  people. 

131.  Napkins.  Handkerchiefs.  Cf.  L.  C.  15  :  "  Oft  did  she  heave  her 
napkin  to  her  eyne  ;"  Ham.  v.  2.  299  :  "  Here,  Hamlet,  take  my  napkin  ; 
rub  thy  brows  ;"  Oth.  iii.  3.  290  :  "  I  am  glad  I  have  found  this  napkin" 
(the  "  handkerchief"  of  line  306  just  below),  etc.  Malone  says  that  the 
word  is  still  used  in  this  sense  in  Scotland. 

148.  /  have  o'er  shot  myself,  etc.  1  have  gone  too  far,  etc.  On  to  tell, 
cf.  10 1  above. 

165.  Stand  far  off.  D.  prints  "far'  off,"  and  far  is  probably  a  con- 
traction of  farther,  both  here  and  in  v.  3.  n  below:  "fly  far  off."  Cf. 
W.  T.  iv. 4.  442:  "Far  than  Deucalion  off."  So  near  is  often  used  for 
nearer.  Cf.  Rich.  II.  iii.  2.  64  :  "  Nor  near  nor  farther  off,  my  gracious 
lord  ;"  Id.  v.  1.88:  "Better  far  off  than  near,  be  ne'er  the  near."  See 
Walker,  vol.  i.  p.  190  fol.,  or  Gr.  478. 

171.  That  day  he  overcame  the  Nervii.  On  that  day  on  which,  etc. 
Some  eds.  make  this  an  independent  sentence.  The  Nervii  were  the 
most  warlike  of  the  Belgic  tribes,  and  their  subjugation  (B.C.  57)  was  one 
of  the  most  important  events  in  Caesar's  Gallic  campaigns. 

173.  Envious.    Malicious.     See  on  ii.  1.  164  above. 

177.  To  be  resolved.     See  on  iii.  1.  132  above. 

179.  C&sar's  angel.  His  alter  ego,  as  it  were,  or  one  as  intimately  con- 
nected with  him  as  his  guardian  angel.  Boswell  asks,  "  Does  it  not  mean 
that  Caesar  put  his  trust  in  him  as  he  would  in  his  guardian  angel  ?" 
Craik  understands  it  as  "simply  his  best  beloved,  his  darling." 

181.  Most  unkindest.     See  on  iii.  1. 122  above. 

186.  Pompey's  statua.     See  on  ii.  2.  76  above. 

192.  The  dint  of  pity.  The  impression  or  influence  of  pity.  Cf.  V.and 
A.  354  :  "  as  new-fallen  snow  takes  any  dint,"  etc. 

195.  With  traitors.     See  on  iii.  1.  269  above. 

202.  Revenge,  etc.  The  folio  gives  this  to  2  Citizen,  but,  as  W.  suggests, 
it  belongs  to  the  citizens  generally ;  and  the  same  is  probably  true  of 
206,  207  below. 

211.  Private  griefs.     Personal  grievances.     See  on  i.  3.  117  above. 

219.  For  I  have  neither  wit,  etc.  The  1st  folio  reads,  "  For  I  haue  ney- 
ther  writ  nor  words,  nor  worth  ;"  corrected  in  2d  folio.    Johnson  explains 


1 66  NOTES. 

"  writ"  as  "  penned  or  premeditated  oration,"  and  Malone  as  "  writing." 
The  latter  adds  that  "  the  editor  of  the  2d  folio,  who  altered  what- 
ever he  did  not  understand,  substituted  wit  for  writ"  K.,  though  he 
gives  wit,  thinks  that  "writ  may  be  explained  as  a  prepared  writing." 
On  the  meaning  of  wit  in  S.,  see  Hen.  VIII.  p.  182. 

241.  Every  several  man.     On  several— separate,  see  Temp.  p.  131. 

Seventy-frve  drachmas.  The  drachma  was  a  Greek  coin  worth  very 
nearly  the  same  as  the  French  franc,  or  18.6  cents.  Plutarch  gives  sev- 
enty-five drachmas  as  the  Greek  equivalent  for  three  hundred  Roman 
sesterces,  which  was  the  amount  named  in  the  will.  The  sesterce  (before 
the  time  of  Augustus)  was  worth  a  little  more  than  four  cents.  It  most 
be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  the  value  (or  "purchasing  power")  of 
money  was  then  much  greater  than  now. 

248.  On  this  side  Tiber.  See  Gr.  202.  Caesar's  gardens  were  beyond 
the  Tiber,  as  a  Roman  would  say,  or  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river.  Cf. 
Horace,  Sat.  i.  9.  18  :  "  Trans  Tiberim  longe  cubat  is  prope  Caesaris  hor- 
tos."     S.  copied  the  error  from  N.,  as  will  be  seen  above. 

Left  them  yon.     The  you  is  emphatic,  which  explains  the  inversion. 

250.  To  walk  abroad.     For  walking,  etc.     Cf.  101  and  148  above. 

254.  Fire.    A  dissyllable  ;  as  in  iii.  1.  172  above. 

260.  Fellow.     Possibly  accented  on  the  second  syllable ;  but  see  Gr. 

453- 

265.  Upon  a  wish.     Cf.  K.  John,  ii.  1.  50:  "  upon  thy  wish,"  etc. 

267.  I  heard  him  say.  The  folio  reading.  Capell  and  the  Coll.  MS. 
(followed  by  Craik)  read  "  them  ;"  and  D.  and  H.  have  "  'em."  K.,  \\\, 
and  the  Camb.  ed.  retain  him. 

269.  Belike.     Probably  ;  often  used  by  S.,  but  now  obsolete. 

Some  notice  of  the  people.  Some  information  respecting  (not  front)  the 
people. 

SCENE  TIL — 2.  Things  unlucky.  The  folio  has  "things  vnluckilv." 
Warb.  substituted  unlucky,  and  is  followed  by  D.,  St.,  H.,  W.,  and  the 
Camb.  ed.  The  Coll.  MS.  gives  "unlikely,"  which  Craik  adopts.  K. 
retains  "unluckily,"  and  W.  is  "not  quite  sure"  that  a  change  is  called 
for.  "The  poet  may  mean  that  many  things  besides  his  dream  of  the 
feast  charge  his  fancy  unluckily."  On  the  passage,  cf.  M.  of  V.  ii.  5. 
II  fol. 

3.  Forth  of  doors.  Cf.  Temp.  v.  1.  160:  "thrust  forth  of  Milan;"  3 
Hen.  VI.  ii.  2.  157  :  "  forth  of  France,"  etc.     Gr.  156. 

9.  Answer  every  man  directly.     See  on  i.  I.  12  above. 

12.  You  were  best.  Originally  the  you  was  dative  (to  you  it  were  best), 
but  it  came  to  be  regarded  as  a  nominative.  Hence  we  find  in  S.  "I 
were  better"  (2  Hen.  IV.  i.  2.  245), "  1  were  best"  (1  Hen.  VI.  v.  3.  82), 
"  She  were  better"  (  T.  A7,  i.  2.  27),  "Thou'rt  l>est"  (  Temp.  i.  2.  366),  etc. 
See  Gr.  230,  352,  and  cf.  190.  For  a  similar  change  in  an  old  idiom,  see 
AI.  of  V.  p.  134,  note  on  If  it  please  you. 

18.  Bear  me  a  bang.     Get  a  blow  from  me.     See  on  i.  2.  256  above. 

27.  My  name  is  Cinua.  Hclvius  China.  The  conspirator  was  Cor- 
nelius China. 


ACT  IV.    SCENE  I.  167 

34.  Turn  him  going.  Send  him  packing.  Cf.  A.  Y.  L.  iii.  1.  38 :  "  Do 
this  expediently, 'and  turn  him  going."  -«     r  r 

-36  To  Brutus",  to  Cassius'.  That  is,  to  Brutus  s  house,  etc.  The  folio 
prints-  "to  Brutus,  to  Cassius,  banie  all.  Some  to  Zfedtrt  House,  and 
some  to  CaskiCs  ;  some  to  Ligarius :  Away,  go."  Note  also  the  repeat- 
ed "  Casars"  in  the  extract  from  the  folio,  p.  163  above.  W.,  however, 
chooses  to  print  "  To  Brutus,  to  Cassius,"  and  "  to  Ligarius." 


ANTONYS    HOUSE. 


ACT  IV. 

Scene  I. —  The  Same.  A  Room  in  Antony 's  Bouse.  The  heading  in  the 
folio  is  simply  "Enter  Antony,  Octauius,  and  Lepidus.'1''  That  the  scene  is 
laid  at  Rome  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  Lepidus  is  sent  to  Caesar's  house 
for  the  will,  and  told  that  on  his  return  he  will  find  Antony  and  Octavius 
"  Or  here,  or  at  the  Capitol."  Their  actual  place  of  meeting,  however, 
was  on  a  small  island  in  the  river  Rhenus  (now  the  Reno),  near  Bononia 
{Bologna). 

Cf.  N.  (Life  of  Antony)-,  "thereupon  all  three  met  together  (to  wit, 
Ccesar,  Antonius  and  Lepidus)  in  an  Island  environed  round  about  with  a 
little  River,  and  there  remained  three  days  together.  Now  as  touching 
all  other  matters,  they  were  easily  agreed,  and  did  divide  all  the  Empire 
of  Rome  between  them,  as  if  it  had  been  their  own  Inheritance.  But  yet 
they  could  hardly  agree  whom  they  would  put  to  death :  for  every  one 


1 68  NOTES. 

of  them  would  kill  their  Enemies,  and  save  their  Kinsmen  and  friends. 
Yet  at  length,  giving  place  to  their  greedy  desire  to  be  revenged  of  their 
Enemies,  they  spurned  all  reverence  of  Blood,  and  holiness  of  friendship 
at  their  feet.  For  Ccesar  left  Cicero  to  Aulonius  will,  Autonius  aiso  for- 
sook Lucius  Ccvsar,  who  was  his  Uncle  by  his  Mother :  and  both  of  them 
together  suffered  Lepidus  to  kill  his  own  Brother  Paulus.  Yet  some 
Writers  affirm,  that  Casar  and  Anlonius  requested  Paulus  might  be  slain, 
and  that  Lepidus  was  contented  with  it.  In  my  Opinion  there  was  never 
a  more  horrible,  unnatural,  and  crueller  change  then  this  was.  For  thus 
changing  murther  for  murther,  they  did  as  well  kill  those  whom  they  did 
forsake  and  leave  unto  others,  as  those  also  which  others  left  unto  them 
to  kill :  but  so  much  more  was  their  wickedness  and  cruelty  great  unto 
their  friends,  for  that  they  did  put  them  to  death  being  innocents,  and 
having  no  cause  to  hate  them." 

I.  Their  names  are  prick\i.     See  on  iii.  I.  217  above. 

5.  Who  is  your  sisters  son.  According  to  Plutarch,  the  person  was 
Lucius  Caesar,  and  Mark  Antony  was  his  sister's  son.  Upton  suggested 
that  S.  wrote  "You  are  his  sister's  son,"  but  this  is  not  at  all  probable. 

12.  Unmeritable.  Without  merit,  undeserving.  Cf.  Rich.  ILL  iii.  7. 
155  :  "  my  desert  Unmeritable  shuns  your  high  request."     Gr.  3. 

22.  Business.  Here,  as  not  unfrequently,  a  trisyllable.  Cf.  Rich.  LL.'ri. 
I.  217  :  "  To  see  this  business.  To-morrow  next,"  etc.  Gr.  479.  On  the 
passage,  cf.  Olh.  i.  1.  44  fob     Steevens  quotes  M.  for  M.  iii.  1.  25  fol. 

27.  In  commons.     The  Coll.  MS.  has  "on,"  which  Craik  adopts. 

28.  Soldier.     A  trisyllable  ;  as  in  iv.  3.  51  below.     Gr.  479. 

32.  Wind.  Cf.  the  transitive  use  in  I  Hen.  IV.  iv.  1.  109:  "To  turn 
and  wind  a  fiery  Pegasus." 

34.  Ln  some  taste.     In  some  measure  or  degree. 

37.  On  objects,  arts,  and  imitations,  etc.  The  folio  has  a  period  aftet 
"  imitations."  K.  substituted  a  comma,  and  thus  made  the  passage  plain 
enough.  Antony  says  that  "  Lepidus  feeds  not  on  objects,  arts,  and  im- 
itations generally,  but  on  such  of  them  as  are  out  of  use  and  staled  (of 
worn  out)  by  other  people,  which,  notwithstanding,  begin  his  fashion  (or 
with  which  his  following  the  fashion  begins)."  Theo.  proposed  "On  ab- 
ject orts  and  imitations,"  which  D.  adopts.  St.  has  "  abjects,  orts,  and 
imitations,"  defining  abjects  as  "things  thrown  away  as  useless."  The 
Camb.  ed.  adopts  this  reading.     Coll.,  Craik,  W.,  and  II.  follow  K. 

40.  A  property.  "  A  thing  quite  at  our  disposal,  and  to  be  treated  as 
we  please"  (Steevens).     Cf.  AL  W.  iii.  4.  10. 

41.  Listen.  Cf.  Much  Ado,  iii.  1.  12  :  "  To  listen  our  purpose,"  etc.  Gr. 
199. 

42.  Pcnvers.  That  is,  forces.  Both  pcnver  and  pcnvers  were  used  in  this 
sense.  Cf.  iv.  3.  167,  304,  and  v.  3.  52  below.  Puissance  was  used  in  the 
same  sense  ;  as  in  K.  John,  iii.  1.  339:  "Cousin,  go  draw  our  puissance 
together,"  etc. 

44.  Our  best  friends  made,  our  means  stretched.  "  A  mutilated  line,  for 
which  the  2d  folio  gives  'Our  best  friends  made,  and  our  best  means 
stretch'd  out ;'  and  Malone,  with  equal  authority,  if  not  equal  fitness, 
'Our  best  friends  made,  our  means  stretch'd  to  the  utmost'"  (W.). 


ACT  IV.    SCE/VE  II.  169 

45.  Go  sit  in  council.     Cf.  i.  2.  24  above  :  "go  see,"  etc.     Gr.  349. 

47.  Answered.  Faced,  met ;  as  in  K.  John,  v.  7.  60,  2  Hen.  IV.  iv.  5. 
197,  Lear,  iii.  4.  106,  etc. 

49.  Ba/d,  etc.  See  on  iii.  1.  205  above  ;  and  cf.  Macb.  v.  7.  1  (see  our 
ed.  p.  252). 

Scene  II. — 5.  To  do  you  salutation.  Cf.  Rich.  III.  v.  3.  210:  "done 
salutation  ;"  Hen.  V.  iv.  1.  26  :  "  Do  my  good-morrow  to  them,"  etc.  See 
Gr.303. 

6.  He  greets  me  well.     This  seems  to  mean,  His  greeting  is  friendly. 

7.  In  his  own  change,  etc.  Either  because  of  some  change  in  himself, 
or  through  the  misconduct  of  his  officers.  Warb.  suggested  "  his  own 
charge,"  and  Johnson  "ill  offices." 

12.  Full  of  regard.     Cf.  iii.  I.  225  above. 
14.  Let  me  be  resolved.     See  on  iii.  1.  132  above. 

16.  Instances.  As  D.  remarks,  "instance  is  a  word  used  by  S.  with 
various  shades  of  meaning,  which  it  is  not  always  easy  to  distinguish — 
'  motive,  inducement,  cause,  ground  ;  symptom,  prognostic  ;  information, 
assurance  ;  proof,  example,  indication.'  "  Here  Craik  explains  it  as  "as- 
siduities," and  Schmidt  as  "proofs  of  familiarity." 

23.  Hot  at  hand.  "  That  is,  apparently,  when  held  by  the  hand,  or  led  ; 
or  rather,  perhaps,  when  acted  upon  only  by  the  rein"  (Craik).  Cf.  Hen. 
VIII.  v.  2.  22 : 

"those  that  tame  wild  horses 
Pace  'em  not  in  their  hands  to  make  'em  gentle, 
But  stop  their  mouths  with  stubborn  bits,  and  spur  'em, 
Till  they  obey  the  manage." 

26.  Fall  their  crests.  Cf.  T.  and  C.  i.  3. 379  :  "  make  him  fall  His  crest," 
etc.  Craik  says  that  this  transitive  use  of  fall  "is  not  common  in  S.  ;" 
but  it  occurs  sixteen  times.     See   Temp.  pp.  127,  140,  and  M.  of  V.  p. 

*35- 

Jades.  Worthless  or  vicious  nags.  Cf.  Hen.  V.  iii.  7.  26 :  "  he  is,  in- 
deed, a  horse  ;  and  all  other  jades  you  may  call  beasts,"  etc. 

41.  Be  content.     That  is,  contain  (or  restrain)  yourself. 

46.  Enlarge  your  griefs.  Set  forth  fully  your  grievances.  On  griefs, 
cf.  i.  3.  117  and  iii.  2. 2 1 1  above. 

50.  Lucius,  do  you  the  like.     The  folio  reads  as  follows  : 

u  Lucillius,  do  you  the  like,  and  let  no  man 
Come  to  our  Tent,  till  we  haue  done  our  Conference. 
Let  Lucius  and  Titinius  guard  our  doore." 

Craik  was  the  first  to  transpose  Lucius  and  Lucilius,  which  both  mends 
the  measure  and  removes  the  absurdity  of  associating  a  servant-boy  and 
an  officer  of  rank  in  the  guarding  of  the  door.  Cassius  sends  his  servant 
Pindarus  with  a  message  to  his  division  of  the  army,  and  Brutus  sends 
his  servant  Lucius  on  a  similar  errand.  The  folio  itself  confirms  this  cor- 
rection, since  it  makes  Lucilius  oppose  the  intrusion  of  the  Poet,  and  at 
the  close  of  the  conference  Brutus  addresses  "Lucilius  and  Titinius,"  who 
had  evidently  remained  on  guard  together  all  the  while.  K.  and  the 
Camb.  editors,  however,  retain  the  folio  reading. 


170  NOTES. 

Scene  III.— Cf.  N.  (Life  of  Brutus):  "Therefore,  before  they  fell  in 
hand  with  any  other  matter,  ttwy  went  into  a  little  Chamber  together,  and 
bade  every  man  avoid,  and  did  shut  the  doors  to  them.  Then  they  began 
to  pour  out  their  complaints  one  to  the  other,  and  grew  hot  and  loud,  ear- 
nestly accusing  one  another,  and  at  length  fell  both  a  weeping.  Their 
friends,  that  were  without  the  Chamber,  hearing  them  loud  within  and 
angry  between  themselves,  they  were  both  amazed  and  afraid  also,  lest 
it  would  grow  to  further  matter  :  but  yet  they  were  commanded,  that  no 
man  should  come  to  them.  Notwithstanding,  one  Marcus Phaonius  [Favo- 
nius],  that  had  been  a  friend  and  follower  of  Cato  while  he  lived,  and  took 
upon  him  to  counterfeit  a  Philosopher,  not  with  wisdom  and  discretion, 
but  with  a  certain  bedlam  and  frantick  motion :  he  would  needs  come 
into  the  Chamber,  though  the  men  offered  to  keep  him  out  But  it  was 
no  boot  to  lett  Phaonius,  when  a  mad  mood  or  toy  took  him  in  the  head  : 
for  he  was  a  hot  hasty  man,  and  suddain  in  all  his  doings,  and  cared  for 
never  a  Senatour  of  them  all.  Now,  though  he  used  this  bold  manner  of 
speech  after  the  profession  of  the  Cynick  Philosophers,  (as  who  would  say, 
Dogs,)  yet  his  boldness  did  no  hurt  many  times,  because  they  did  but 
laugh  at  him  to  see  him  so  mad.  This  Phaonius  at  that  time,  in  despite 
of  the  Door-keepers,  came  inco  the  Chamber,  and  with  a  certain  scoffing 
and  mocking  gesture,  which  he  counterfeited  of  purpose,  he  rehearsed  the 
Verses  which  old  Nestor  said  in  Homer: 

"  'My  Lords,  I  pray  you  hearken  both  to  me. 
For  I  have  seen  moe  years  than  suchie  three.1 
Cassias  fell  a  laughing  at  him  :  but  Brutus  thrust  him  out  of  the  Cham- 
ber, and  called  him  Dog  and  counterfeit  Cynick.     Howbeit  his  coming  in 
brake  their  strife  at  that  time,  and  so  they  left  each  other." 

Coleridge  says  :  "  I  know  no  part  of  Shakespeare  that  more  impresses 
on  me  the  belief  of  his  genius  being  superhuman  than  this  scene  between 
Brutus  and  Cassius." 

2.  You  have  condemned  and  noted  Lucius  Pella.  Cf.  N.  (Life  of  Brutus)  : 
"  The  next  day  after,  Brutus  upon  complaint  of  the  Sardians,  did  con- 
demn and  note  Lucius  Pella  for  a  defamed  Person,  that  had  been  a  Prxtor 
of  the  Romans,  and  whom  Brutus  had  given  charge  unto  :  for  that  he  was 
accused  and  convicted  of  robbery,  and  pilfery  in  his  Office.  This  judge- 
ment much  misliked  Cassius,  because  he  himself  had  secretly  (not  many 
days  before)  warned  two  of  his  friends,  attainted  and  convicted  of  the  like 
offences,  and  openly  had  cleared  them :  but  yet  he  did  not  therefore  leave 
to  employ  them  in  any  manner  of  service  as  he  did  before.  And  there- 
fore he  greatly  reproved  Brutus,  for  that  he  would  shew  himself  so  straight 
and  severe,  in  such  a  time  as  was  meeter  to  bear  a  little,  then  to  take 
things  at  the  worst.  Brutus  in  contrary  manner  answered,  that  he  should 
remember  the  Id's  of  March,  at  which  time  they  slew  Julius  Cesar,  who 
neither  pilled  nor  polled*  the  Countrey,  but  onely  was  a  favourer  and 

*  To  pill  is  to  pillage  or  rob,  and  to  poll  is  to  strip  or  plunder.  Cf.  Rich.  II.  ii.  i. 
246:  "The  commons  hath  he  pill'd  ;"  Spenser,  State  of  ht land:  "They  will  poll  and 
ipoyh  ice  OUtngioUtly,  as  the  verve  Enemye  cannot  doe  much  woorse."  The  two  words 
an-  often  joined,  as  here-     Cf.  Spenser,  F.  Q.  v.  2.  6:  "Which  pols  and  pils  the  poore  in 

Sftteooa  wi/e;  '   HoKnthed,  History  of  Ireland:  "Kildare  did  use  to  pill  and  poll  his 
liendes,  tenants,  and  reteyners." 


ACT  IV.    SCENE  III. 


171 


suborner  of  all  them  that  did  rob  and  spoil,  by  his  countenance  and  Au- 
thority." 

4.  Wherein  my  letter,  etc.     This  is  the  reading  of  the  2d  folio,  and  fur- 
nishes the  simplest  correction  of  the  1st,  which  gives 
"  Wherein  my  Letters,  praying  on  his  side, 
Because  I  jcnew  the  man  was  slighted  off." 

K.,  D.,  H.,  and  the  Camb.  ed.  read  "  letters  .  .  .  were  slighted ;"  W., 
as  in  the  text. 

8.  That  every  nice  offence,  etc.  That  every  petty  offence  should  bear 
its  comment,  or  criticism. 

9.  Let  me  tell  you,  Cassius.  Abbott  (Gr.  483)  makes  you  a  dissyllable 
here.     Capell  (followed  by  D.  and  H.)  reads  "And  let." 

10.  Condemned  to  have.  Condemned  as  having,  accused  of  having.  Gr. 
356. 

11.  Mart.  Market,  trade.  Cf.  W.  T.  iv.  4.  363  :  "You  have  let  him 
go,  and  nothing  marted  with  him."     See  also  Cymb.  i.  6.  151. 

13.  Brutus  that  speaks  this.     Pope  reads  "speak." 

19.  For  justice  sake.  The  folio  prints  "for  Iustice  sake."  Cf.  Cor.  ii. 
3.36:  "  conscience  sake  ;"  and  see  our  ed.  p.  231.     Gr.217. 

20.  What  villain,  etc.  That  is,  who  that  touched  his  body  was  such  a 
villain  that  he  stabbed,  etc.     Cf.  v.  4.  2  below. 

28.  Brutus,  bay  not  me.  The  folio  has  "  Brutus,  baite  not  me  ;"  cor- 
rected by  Theo.  It  is  evident  that  S.  intended  Cassius  to  echo  the  word 
used  by  Brutus.     K.  and  Wr.  read  "bait." 

32.  To  make  conditions.  "  To  arrange  the  terms  on  which  offices  should 
be  conferred"  (Craik).     For^v?  to,  see  M.  of.  V.  p.  136. 

36.  Have  mind  upon  your  health.     Look  to  your  safety. 

37.  Slight  man.     Cf.  iv.  1.  12  above. 

38.  Is  V  possible  ?  This  interruption  does  not  break  the  measure  of 
what  Brutus  is  saying.     See  Gr.  514. 

45.  Observe  you.  Treat  you  with  reverence.be  obsequious  to  you.  Cf. 
2  Hen.  IV.  iv.  4.  30 :  "  For  he  is  gracious,  if  he  be  observ'd,"  etc.  See  also 
Mark,  vi.  20,  where  most  of  the  early  versions  have  "gave  him  reverence." 

51.  Soldier.     A  trisyllable  ;  as  in  iv.  I.  28  above. 

54.  I  shall  be  glad  to  learn  of  noble  men.  This  is  the  folio  reading,  fol- 
lowed by  K.,  St.,  W.,  and  others.  The  Coll.  MS.  alters  noble  to  "  abler," 
which  D.  and  H.  adopt,  referring  to  what  Cassius  has  said — "  Older  in 
practice,  abler  than  yourself,"  etc.  "  Brutus  says  noble  because  it  is  what 
he  wishes  Cassius  to  be"  (Wr.). 

69.  Respect  not.  Regard  not,  care  not  for.  Cf.  T  G.  of  V.  i.  2.  134, 
Cymb.  i.  6.  155,  etc. 

73.  Than  to  wring.     Cf.  i.  2.  172  above  ;  and  see  Gr.  350. 

75.  By  any  indirection.  By  "  indirect  crooked  ways"  (2  Hen.  IV.  iv.  5. 
185)  or  dishonest  practice.     Cf.  K.  John,  iii.  1.  276. 

80.  Rascal  counters.  Puttenham  (Arte  of  English  Poesie,  1582)  says: 
"  R 'us kail  is  properly  the  hunter's  term  given  to  young  deer,  lean  and  out 
of  season,  and  not  to  people."  Cf.  Drayton,  Polyolbion,  Song  13  :  "  The 
bucks  and  lusty  stags  among  the  rascals  strewed."  Counters  were  round 
pieces  of  metal  used  in  casting  accounts.     Cf.  W.  T.  iv.  3.  38 :  "I  cannot 


I72 


NOTES. 


do  't  without  counters  ;"  Cymb.  v.  4.  174 :  "  pen,  book,  and  counters,"  etc. 
Here  the  word  is  used  contemptuously  for  money. 

81.  Be  ready,  gods,  etc.     The  folio  reads  and  points  thus  : 
"  Be  ready  Gods  with  all  your  Thunder-bolts, 
Dash  him  to  peeces.M 
The  modern  editors  generally  retain  the  comma  after  "thunderbolts,"  but 
Coll.  and  W.  omit  it.     Craik  thinks  that  dash  is  "probably  to  be  under- 
stood as  the  infinitive,"  with  to  omitted,  but  we  believe  it  to  be  the  im- 
perative :  Be  ready  with  all  your  thunderbolts,  and  dash  him  to  pieces. 

90.  Do  appear.     The  Coll.  MS.  alters  do  to  "did." 

93.  Alone  on  Cassius.     On  Cassius  only.     Cf.  R.  of  L.  1480. 

94.  Atveary  of  the  world.  Cf.  Macb.  v.  5.  49  :  "I  gin  to  be  aweary  of 
the  sun."  Abbott  (Gr.  24)  considers  the  a-  in  aweary  "a  corruption  of 
the  A.  S.  intensive  of." 

96.  Checked  like  a  bondman.  Cf.  Lear,  ii.  2.  149 :  "  his  master  Will  check 
him  for  't."  The  noun  also  is  used  in  the  sense  of  rebuke,  reproof.  Cf. 
Cymb.  iii.  3.  22  :  "  attending  for  a  check"  (that  is,  dancing  attendance  only 
to  be  paid  with  reproof);  Oth.  iii.  3.  67  :  "a  fault  To  incur  a  private 
check,"  etc. 

101.  Dearer  than  Plulus'  mine.  The  folio  has  "  Deerer  then  Pluto's 
Mine,"  and  in  T.and  C.  iii.  3.  197  :  "euery  graine  of  Plutoes  gold." 

102.  If  that  thoic  beest.     On  that,  see  Gr.  287,  and  on  beest,  Gr.  298. 

108.  Dishonour  shall  be  humour.  "  Any  indignity  that  you  offer  shall 
be  regarded  as  a  mere  caprice  of  the  moment"  (Craik).  Both  Craik  and 
W.  suggest  that  S.  may  have  written  "  honour." 

109.  Yoked  with  a  lamb.     Pope  read  "  with  a  man." 
no.  As  the  flint  bears  fire.     Cf.  i.  2.  172  above. 
111.  Who.     See  Gr.  264. 

1 18.  Have  not  you,  etc.    The  folio  reading.    Pope  gives  "  Have  you  not." 
130.  For  I  have  seen  more  years,  I  'm  sure,  than  ye.     Plutarch  makes 
Favonius  exclaim,  in  the  words  of  Nestor  {Iliad,  book  i.), 

" 'AWfi  niOeaO'  '  ci/i0a>  di~  vecoWpu)  eajiiv  e/ueu>." 

For  North's  translation,  see  the  extract  above. 
133.  Fashion.     A  trisyllable.     See  on  51  above. 

135.  These  jigging  fools.  These  rhyming  fools.  Jig  used  to  mean  "a 
metrical  composition,  as  well  as  a  dance"  (Malone). 

136.  Companion,  hence  !  On  this  contemptuous  use  of  companionate 
Temp.  p.  131,  note  on  Your  fellow. 

148.  How  scap'd  I  killing.  Scape  is  commonly  printed  as  a  contraction 
of  escape,  but  we  find  it  aiso  in  prose  ;  as  in  Bacon,  Adv.  of  L.  ii.  14.  9 : 
"  such  as  had  scaped  shipwreck,"  etc.  S.  uses  it  much  oftener  than  es- 
cape.    See  Wb.  s.  v. 

150.  Upon  what  sickness  ?  Cf.  Much  Ado,  iv.  1.  225  :  "  When  he  shall 
hear  she  died  upon  (that  is,  in  consequence  of)  his  words."  See  Gr.  191. 
Bacon  often  uses  upon  in  this  sense.  Cf.  Ess.  48  :  "  Factious  Follmvers 
are  worse  to  be  liked,  which  Follow  not  upon  Affection  to  him,  with  whom 
they  range  Themselves,  but  upon  Discontentment  Conceived  against  some 
(  )ther  ;"  Adv.  of  L.  ii.  23.  18:  "  there  are  few  men  so  true  to  themselves 
and  so  settled,  but  that,  sometimes  upon  heat,  sometimes  upon  bravery, 


ACT  IV.    SCENE  III.  173 

sometimes  upon  kindness,  sometimes  upon  trouble  of  mind  and  weak- 
ness, they  open  themselves,"  etc. 

Impatient  of  my  absence,  etc.  "  This  speech  is  throughout  a  striking 
exemplification  of  the  tendency  of  strong  emotion  to  break  through  the 
logical  forms  of  grammar,  and  of  how  possible  it  is  for  language  to  be 
perfectly  intelligible,  sometimes,  with  the  grammar  in  a  more  or  less  cha- 
otic or  uncertain  state"  (Craik). 

153.  Tidings.  Like  news,  used  by  S.  both  as  singular  and  as  plural. 
Cf.  v.  3.  54  below. 

With  this  she  fell  distract.  See  p.  33  above.  For  the  form  distract,  see 
Gr.  342.  S.  also  uses  the  obsolete  distraught ;  as  in  K.  and  J.  iv.  3.  49  : 
"Or,  if  I  wake,  shall  I  not  be  distraught." 

154.  Her  attendants  absent,  etc.  See  Gr.  380.  Cf.  N.  {Life  of  Brutus)  : 
"  And  for  Porcia,  Brutus  Wife,  Nicolaus  the  Philosopher,  and  Valerius 
Maximus  do  write,  that  she  determining  to  kill  herself  (her  Parents  and 
friends  carefully  looking  to  her  to  keep  her  from  it)  took  hot  burning 
coals  and  cast  them  into  her  mouth,  and  kept  her  mouth  so  close  that 
she  choaked  herself." 

163.  Call  in  question.     Consider,  discuss. 

168.  Bending  their  expedition.  Directing  their  march — "perhaps  im- 
plying that  they  were  pressing  on"  (Craik).     Cf.  Rich.  III.  iv.  4.  136. 

169.  Tenour.     The  folio  has  "  Tenure  ;"  as  in  A  .  Y.  L.  iv.  3.  1 1. 

171.  That  by  proscription,  etc.  Cf.  N.  {Life  of  Brutus):  "After  that, 
these  three  Octavius  Ccesar,  Autonius  and  Lepidus  made  an  agreement  be- 
tween themselves,  and  by  those  Articles  divided  the  Provinces  belonging 
to  the  Empire  of  Rome  among  themselves,  and  did  set  up  Bills  of  Pro- 
scription and  Outlawry,  condemning  two  hundred  of  the  noblest  men  of 
Rome  to  suffer  death  ;  and  amongst  that  number,  Cicero  was  one." 

177.  Cicero  one.  Abbott  (Gr.  486)  makes  one  a  dissyllable.  Steevens 
inserted  "  Ay"  before  the  second  Cicero. 

181.  Nor  nothing.     Cf.  iii.  I.  92,  155  above. 

189.  With  meditating,  etc.  On  with,  see  Gr.  193.  Here  w«=some 
time  or  other.  Cf.  M.  W.  iii.  4.  103  :  "  I  pray  thee,  once  to-night  Give  my 
sweet  Nan  this  ring."    See  also  Hen.  VIII.  p.  163,  note  on  Once  weak  ones. 

192.  /  have  as  much  of  this  in  art  as  you,  etc.  "In  art  Malone  inter- 
prets to  mean  '  in  theory.'  It  rather  signifies  by  acquired  knowledge,  or 
learning,  as  distinguished  from  natural  disposition"  (Craik). 

194.  Our  work  alive.     That  is,  the  work  that  we  the  living  have  to  do. 

201.  Of  force.  Of  necessity  ;  as  in  M.  of  V.  iv.  1.  421,  etc.  Cf.  Bacon, 
Adv.  of  L.  ii.  5.  2  :  "their  inquiries  must  of  force  have  been  of  a  far  other 
kind."    Cf.  also  perforce,  which  is  frequent  in  S.,  and  is  still  used  in  poetry. 

207.  Come  on  refresh 'd,  new-added,  etc.  The  folio  reading,  retained  by 
St.,  W.,  and  the  Camb.  ed.  "  New-aided"  was  independently  suggested 
by  D.  and  Sr.,  and  is  adopted  by  H.  The  Coll.  MS.  (followed  by  Craik) 
has  "new-hearted."     New-added— reinforced. 

218.  Omitted.     Neglected.     See  Temp.  p.  125,  and  Hen.  VIII.  p.  183. 

222.  Ventures.     See  M.  of  V.  p.  128,  note  on  Had  I  such  venture  forth. 

226.  Niggard.  Craik  remarks  that  this  is  probably  the  only  instance 
in  the  language  of  niggard  as  a  verb  ;  but  cf.  Sonu.  1.  12.     Gr.  290. 


174 


NOTES. 


229.  Farewell,  good  Messala,  Craik  regards  this  as  a  hemistich ;  Abbott 
(Gr.  480)  makes  it  complete  the  line,  counting  Farewell  as  a  trisyllable. 
Walker  suggests  "  Fare  you  well,"  and  Hanmer  "  Now,  farewell." 

239.  Poor  kttave.  That  is,  poor  boy.  See  M.  of  V.  p.  137.  On  the 
passage,  see  page  13  above. 

O'envatch'd.  Worn  out  with  watching.  Cf.  Lear,  ii.  2.  177:  "All 
weary  and  o'erwatch'd."  See  Gr.  374  (cf.  295).  In  M.  N.  D.  v.  1.  373, 
we  have  it  in  its  active  form  : 

"  I  fear  we  shall  outsleep  the  coming  morn 
As  much  as  we  this  night  have  overwatch'd." 

240.  Some  other  of  my  men.     On  <?M<?>-= others,  see  M.  of  V.  p.  128. 
242.  Varro  and  Claudius.     The  folio  has  "  Varrus,  and  Claudia,"  and 

also  in  the  stage-direction  that  follows. 

254.  Canst  thou  hold  up,  etc.  The  2d  folio  gets  the  passage  "some- 
what mixed :" 

u  Canst  thou  hold  up  thy  instrument  a  straine  or  two, 
And  touch  thy  heavy  eyes  a-while." 

260.  I  know  young  bloods.     See  on  i.  2.  147  above. 

262.  It  was  well  done.     The  Var.  of  182 1  has  "It  is  well  done.'" 

266.  Thy  leaden  mace.     Cf.  Spenser,  F.  Q.  i.  4.  44  : 

"  But  whenas  Morpheus  had  with  leaden  mace 
Arrested  all  that  courtly  company." 

In  both  cases,  the  mace  is  the  club  borne  by  an  officer  of  justice,  not,  as 
Steevens  and  H.  explain  it,  the  sceptre  of  a  monarch.  Cf.  C.  of  E.  iv.  3. 
28 :  "  he  (the  officer)  that  sets  up  his  rest  (with  a  play  on  rest  and  arrest) 
to  do  more  exploits  with  his  mace  than  a  morris-pike."  It  means  sce/>t re 
in  lien.  V.  iv.  1.  278:  "The  sword,  the  mace,  the  crown  imperial." 

268.  So  much  wrong  to  wake  thee.     On  the  ellipsis  of  as,  see  Gr.  281. 

269.  If  thou  dost  nod,  thou  break'st.     On  the  tenses,  see  Gr.  363,  371. 

272.  Where  I  left  reading.  Cf.  N.  {Life  of  Brutus) :  "  Brutus  was  a  care- 
ful* man,  and  slept  very  little,  both  for  that  his  Diet  was  moderate,  as  also 
because  he  was  continually  occupied.  He  never  slept  in  the  day  time,  and 
in  the  night  no  longer  then  the  time  he  was  driven  to  be  alone,  and  when 
every  body  else  took  their  rest.  But  now  whilest  he  was  in  War,  and  his 
head  over-busily  occupied  to  think  of  his  affairs,  and  what  would  happen, 
after  he  had  slumbered  a  little  after  supper,  he  spent  all  the  rest  of  the 
night  in  dispatching  of  his  weightiest  Causes  ;  and  after  he  had  taken 
order  for  them,  if  he  had  any  leasure  left  him,  he  would  read  some  Book 
till  the  third  Watch  of  the  night,  at  what  time  the  Captains,  petty  Captains 
and  Colonels,  did  use  to  come  to  him.  So,  being  ready  to  go  into  Eu- 
Koi'K,one  night  very  late  (when  all  the  Camp  took  quiet  rest)  as  be  was 
in  his  Tent  with  a  little  light,  thinking  of  weighty  matters,  he  thought  he 
heard  one  come  in  to  him,  and  casting  his  eye  towards  the  door  ot  his 
Tent,  that  he  saw  a  wonderfull  strange  and  monstrous  shape  of  a  body 
coming  towards  him,  and  said  never  a  word.  So  Brutus  boldly  asked 
what  he  was,  a  God  or  a  man,  and  what  cause  brought  him  thither.    The 

*  That  is,  full  of  care.     Cf.  C.  of  E.  v.  1.  208:  "  careful  hours  {■   Rick.  ill.  i.  J.  83 1 

"  By  Him  that  rais'd  me  to  this  careful  heipht 

From  that  contented  hap  which  1  enjoy  d." 


ACT  V.    SCENE  I. 


175 


Spirit  answered  him,  I  am  thy  evill  Spirit,  Brutus:  and  thou  shalt  see  me 
by  the  City  of  Philippes.  Brutus  being  no  otherwise  afraid,  replied  again 
unto  it :  Well,  then  I  shall  see  thee  again.  The  Spirit  presently  vanished 
away  :  and  Brutus  called  his  men  unto  him,  who  told  him  that  they  heard 
no  noise,  nor  saw  any  thing  at  all." 

See  also  the  Life  of  Ccesar :  "  he  thought  he  heard  a  noise  at  his  Tent 
door,  and  looking  towards  the  light  of  the  Lamp  that  waxed  very  dim,  he 
saw  a  horrible  Vision  of  a  man,  of  a  wonderfull  greatness,  and  clreadfull 
look,  which  at  the  first  made  him  marvellously  afraid.  But  when  he  saw 
that  it  did  him  no  hurt,  but  stood  by  his  bed-side,  and  said  nothing  ;  at 
length  he  asked  him  what  he  was.  The  Image  answered  him  :  I  am  thy 
ill  Angell,  Brutus,  and  thou  shalt  see  me  by  the  City  of  Philippes.  Then 
Brutus  replied  again,  and  said,  Well,  I  shall  see  then.  Therewithall,  the 
Spirit  presently  vanished  from  him." 

On  the  introduction  of  the  ghost  here,  see  p.  20  above. 

273.  How  ill  this  taper  burns  !  Because  of  the  appearance  of  the  ghost. 
Cf.  Rich.  III.  v.  3.  181  :  "  The  lights  burn  blue  ;"  and  see  our  ed.  p.  241. 
Here  the  poet  follows  N. 

278.  And  my  hair  to  stare.  Cf.  Temp.  i.  2.  213  :  "  With  hair  up-staring, 
— then  like  reeds,  not  hair." 

304.  Set  on  his  powers.     See  on  i.  2.  II  and  iv.  1.  42  above. 


ACT  V. 

Scene  I. — 4.  Their  battles.  Their  battalions,  or  forces.  Cf.  Hen.  V. 
iv.  chor.  9 :  "  Each  battle  sees  the  other's  umber'd  face  ;"  Bacon,  Ess.  58 : 
"they  were  more  ignorant  in  ranging  and  arraying  their  battailes,  etc." 

5.  Warn.  Summon.  Cf.  Rich.  III.  i.  3.  39  :  "  to  warn  them  to  his  royal 
presence  ;"  K.  John,  ii.  1.  201 :  "warn'd  us  to  the  walls,"  etc. 

10.  With  feajful  bravery.  "  With  a  gallant  show  of  courage  carrying 
with  it  terror  and  dismay"  (Malone) :  with  "bravery  in  show  or  appear- 
ance, which  yet  is  full  of  real  fear  or  apprehension"  (Craik).  The  latter 
interpretation  agrees  better  with  what  follows.  For  bravery  =  bravado,  cf. 
Bacon,  Ess.  57:  "To  seek  to  extinguish  anger  utterly,  is  but  a  bravery 
of  the  Sloicks."  Y  ox  fearful = timorous,  faint-hearted,  see  V.  and  A.  677  : 
"  Pursue  these  fearful  creatures  o'er  the  downs" — the  creatures  being  "  the 
timorous  flying  hare"  (called  "  the  fearful  flying  hare"  in  3  Hen.  VI.  ii.  5. 
130),  the  fox,  and  the  roe.     See  also  Judges,  vii.  3,  Matt.  viii.  26,  etc. 

14.  Their  bloody  sign  of  battle.  Cf.  N.  {Life  of  Brutus)  :  "  The  next 
morning  by  break  of  day,  the  Signall  of  Battell  was  set  out  in  Brutus  and 
Cassius  Camp,  which  was  an  arming  Scarlet  Coat." 

19.  Exigent.  Exigency.  Cf.  A.  and  Civ.  14.  63:  "when  the  exigent 
should  come."  In  the  only  other  instance  in  which  S.  uses  the  word  (1 
Hen.  VI.  ii.  5.  9),  it  means  end : 

"These  eyes,  like  lamps  whose  wasting  oil  is  spent, 
Grow  dim,  as  drawing  to  their  exigent." 

24.  Answer  on  their  charge.     Await  their  onset. 

25.  Make  forth.     "  Step  forward"  (Craik). 


176 


NOTES. 


ROMAN    SOLDIERS. 

33.  The  posture  ofyottr  blows  are  yet  unknown.     See  Gr.  412. 

34.  The  Hybla  bees.  Hybla  in  Sicily  was  famous  for  its  honey.  Cf 
I  Hen.  IV.  i.  2. 47  :  "  the  honey  of  Hybla." 

44.  O  you  flatterers.     On  the  measure,  see  Gr.  482. 

49.  The  proof  of  it.  The  proof  of  the  arguing;  that  is,  "the  arbitra- 
ment of  the  sword,  to  which  it  is  the  prologue  or  prelude"  (Craik). 

52.  Civsar's  three  and  thirty  wounds.  Theo.  changed  this  to  "  three  and 
twenty,"  the  number  given  in  Plutarch  and  Suetonius  ;  but  this  is  to  deal 
with  poetry  in  too  arithmetical  a  way. 

54.  Have  added,  etc.  Have  added  another  victim  to  your  traitorous 
swords.     The  Coll.  MS.  has  "  word"  for  sword. 

58.  Strain.  Race.  Cf.  Much  Ado,  ii.  1. 394  :  "  he  is  of  a  noble  strain  ;" 
Per.  iv.  3.  24  :  "  To  think  of  what  a  noble  strain  you  are  ;"  Spenser,  F.  Q. 
'v-  8.  t,3 :   "  Sprung  of  the  auncient  stocke  of  Princes  straine,"  etc. 

59.  Honourable.  Thus  in  the  folio,  but  possibly  a  misprint  for  "hon- 
ourably" ("  honourablie"),  which  \Y.  substitutes. 

60.  A  peevish  schoolboy.  "  PttVtsk  appeals  to  have  generally  signified, 
during  S.'s  days, 'silly,  foolish,  trilling,' etc.,  though  no  doubt  the  word 


ACT   V.     SCENE  I. 


177 


was  formerly  used,  as  now,  in  the  sense  of 'pettish,  perverse,' etc."  (D.). 
Cf.  C.  of  E.  iv.  I.  93  :  "  How  now  !  a  madman  !  Why,  thou  peevish  sheep, 
What  ship  of  Epidamnum  stays  for  me?"  3  Hen.  VI.  v.  6.  18:  "  Why, 
what  a  peevish  fool  was  that  of  Crete,  That  taught  his  son  the  office  of  a 
fowl  !"  Rich.  III.  iv.  2. 100 :  "  When  Richmond  was  a  little  peevish  boy." 
Trench  {Glossary,  etc.)  thinks  that  the  word  meant  "self-willed,  obsti- 
nate," rather  than  "  foolish,"  but  the  latter  seems  the  only  meaning  pos- 
sible in  some  of  the  passages  just  cited,  and  in  several  others  in  S.  Could 
we  substitute  "self-willed"  or  "obstinate"  for  peevish  in  the  following  dia- 
logue from  1  Hen.  VI.  v.  3.  181  fol.  ? — 

'''■Suffolk.    No  loving  token  to  his  majesty? 

Margaret.    Yes.  my  good  lord, —a  pure  unspotted  heart, 
Never  yet  taint  with  love,  I  send  the  king. 

Suffolk.    And  this  withal-  [Kisses  her. 

Margaret.    That  for  thyself: — I  will  not  so  presume 
To  send  such  peevish  tokens  to  a  king." 

Se^  also  Hen.  V.  p.  171. 

70.  As  this  very  day.     See  Temp.  p.  113,  note  on  As  at  that  time. 

72.  Be  thou,  etc.     On  the  change  from  thou  to  you,  see  Gr.  233. 

According  to  N.  {Life  of  Brutus),  Cassius  said,  "  Messala,  I  protest  unto 
thee,  and  make  thee  my  Witness,  that  I  am  compelled  against  my  mind 
and  will  (as  Pompey  the  Great  was)  to  jeopard  the  liberty  of  our  Coun- 
trey  to  the  hazard  of  a  Battell." 

78.  Coming  from  Sardis,  etc.     On  coming,  see  Gr.  379. 

Our  former  ensign.  The  Coll.  MS.  has  "forward,"  but  the  original 
reading  is  well  enough,  and  Coll.  himself  retains  it.  Cf.  N.  {Life  of  Bru- 
tus) :  "  When  they  raised  their  Camp,  there  came  two  Eagles  that  flying 
with  a  marvellous  force,  lighted  upon  two  of  the  foremost  Ensigns,  and 
always  followed  the  Souldiers,  which  gave  them  Meat,  and  fed  them,  un- 
til] they  came  near  to  the  City  of  Phii.ippes;  and  there  one  day  onely 
before  the  Battel,  they  both  flew  away." 

81.  Who  to  Philippi  here  consorted  us.  On  who,  see  on  i.  3.  20  above. 
On  the  transitive  use  of  consort,  cf.  C  of  E.\.i.  28  :  "  And  afterwards  con- 
sort you  till  bed-time,"  etc.  S.  also  uses  consort  with  ;  as  in  R.  and  "J. 
iii.  1.  48  :  "  thou  consort'st  with  Romeo,"  etc. 

83.  In  their  steads.  Cf.  T.  of  A.  iv.  1.6;  and  see  Rich.  II.  p.  206,  note 
on  Sights. 

85.  As  tve  were,  etc.    As  //we  were,  etc.     Gr.  107.    Cf.  iii.  1.  99  above. 

91.  Constantly.     Firmly.     Cf.  the  adjective  in  iii.  1.22.  60,  72  above. 

93.  Lovers.     See  on  ii.  3.  7  above. 

94.  Rest  still  incertain.  The  folio  reads  "  rests  still  incertaine ;"  cor*, 
rected  by  Rowe.     See  M.  of  V.  p.  155,  note  on  Uncapable.     Gr.  442. 

95.  Let  'j-  reason  with  the  worst,  etc.  Cf.  N.  {Life  of  Brutus):  "There 
Cass/usbegarx  to  speak  first,  and  said :  The  gods  grant  us  O  Brutus,  that 
this  day  we  may  win  the  Field,  and  ever  after  to  live  all  the  rest  of  our 
life  quietly  one  with  another.  But  sith  the  gods  have  so  ordained  it,  that 
the  greatest  and  chiefest  things  amongst  men  are  most  uncertain,  and  that 
if  the  Battell  fall  out  otherwise  to  day  then  we  wish  or  look  for,  we  shall 
hardly  meet  again,  what  art  thou  then  determined  to  do,  to  flie,  or  die? 

M 


i73 


A'OTES. 


Brutus  answered  him,  being  yet  but  a  young  man,  and  not  over  greatly 
experienced  In  the  world,  I  trust*  (I  know  not  how)  a  certain  rule  of  Phi- 
losophy, by  the  which  I  did  greatly  blame  and  reprove  Cato  for  killing 
himself,  as  being  no  lawfull  nor  godly  act,  touching  the  gods  :  nor  con- 
cerning men,  valiant ;  not  to  give  place  and  yeeid  to  divine  Providence, 
and  not  constantly  and  patiently  to  take  whatsoever  it  pleaseth  him  to 
send  us,  but  to  draw  back  and  flie  :  but  being  now  in  the  midst  of  the 
danger,  I  am  of  a  contrary  mind.  For,  if  it  be  not  the  will  of  God  that 
this  Battell  fall  out  fortunate  for  us,  I  will  look  no  more  for  hope,  but  will 
rid  me  of  this  miserable  world,  and  content  me  with  my  fortune.'' 
99.  Even  by  the  rule,  etc.     The  passage  stands  thus  in  the  folio  : 

"  Euen  by  the  rule  of  that  Philosophy, 
¥>y  which  I  did  blame  Cato,  for  the  death 
Which  he  did  giue  himselfe,  I  know  not  how: 
But  I  do  finde  it  Cowardly,  and  viie, 
For  feare  of  what  might  fall,  so  to  preuent 
The  time  of  life,  arming  my  selfe  with  patience, 
To  stay  the  prouidence  of  some  high  Powers, 
That  gouerne  vs  below." 

The  meaning  apparently  is,  I  am  determined  to  do  by  (that  is,  act  in 
accordance  with,  govern  myself  by)  the  rule  of  that  philosophy,  by  which 
I  did  blame  Cato,  etc.  K.,  D.,  and  H.  make  "  I  know  not  how  .  .  .  the 
time  of  life"  a  parenthesis.  Coll.  and  W.  put  a  period  after  himself ; 
and  that  pointing,  since  it  gives  the  same  meaning  without  the  long  pa- 
renthesis, is,  on  the  whole,  to  be  preferred.  Craik  connects  "  I  know  not 
how,"  etc.,  with  what  precedes  ("I  know  not  how  it  is,  but  I  do  find  it, 
by  the  rule  of  that  philosophy,  etc.,  cowardly  and  vile"),  and  the  Camb. 
ed.  adopts  that  arrangement. 

103.  To  prevent  The  time  of  life.  Johnson  and  Steevens  take  prevent  in 
its  ordinary  meaning  ;  Malone,  D.,and  H.,  in  its  primary  sense  of  antici- 
pate. S.  uses  the  word  several  times  in  the  latter  sense,  and  we  prefer 
that  interpretation  here.  The  time  of  life  is  the  full  time  or  natural  pe- 
riod of  life.  The  Coll.  MS.  changes  time  to  "  term,"  and  in  the  next  line 
some  to  "those  ;"  and  Craik  adopts  both  emendations. 

105.  To  stay  the  providence.  To  await  it  {not  to  hinder  or  delay  it) ;  as 
in  1  Hen.  IV.  i.  3.  258 :  "  We  '11  stay  your  leisure." 

108.  Thorough  the  streets.     See  on  iii.  1.  137  above. 

109.  No,  Cassius,  no,  etc.  "  There  has  been  some  controversy  about 
the  reasoning  of  Brutus  in  this  dialogue.  Both  Steevens  and  Malone 
conceive  that  there  is  an  inconsistency  between  what  he  here  says  and 
his  previous  declaration  of  his  determination  not  to  follow  the  example 
of  Cato.  But  how  did  Cato  act?  Me  slew  himself  that  he  might  not 
witness  and  outlive  the  fall  of  Utica.  This  was,  merelv  '  for  ten  of  what 
might  fall,'  to  anticipate  the  end  of  life.  It  did  not  follow  that  it  would 
be  wrong,  in  the  opinion  of  linitus,  to  commit  suicide  in  order  to  escape 
any  certain  and  otherwise  inevitable  calamity  or  degradation,  such  as 
being  led  in  triumph  through  the  streets  of  Rome  by  Octavius  and  An- 
tony" (Craik). 

*  This  is  an  old  form  of  the  past  tense,  and  ^trusted-  Cf.  Cymb  iv.  2.  347 :  "  I  fast 
and  pray'd,"  etc      Gr.  341. 


ACT  V.    SCENE  II. 


179 


"  Brutus  is  at  first  inclined  to  wait  patiently  for  better  times,  but  is 
roused  by  the  idea  of  being  '  led  in  triumph,'  to  which  he  will  never  sub- 
mit. The  loss  of  the  battle  would  not  alone  have  determined  him  to  kill 
himself,  if  he  could  have  lived  free"  (Ritson). 


ROMAN    STANDARD-BEARERS. 


Scene  IT. — On  this  scene,  and  the  following  ones,  cf.  N.  {Life  of  Brutus)'. 
"Then  Brutus  prayed  Cassius  he  might  have  the  leading  of  the  right  Wing, 
the  which  men  thought  was  far  meeter  for  Cassius,  both  because  he  was 
the  elder  man,  and  also  for  that  he  had  the  better  experience.  But  yet 
Cassius  gave  it  him,  and  willed  that  Messala  (who  had  charge  of  one  of 
the  warlikest  Legions  they  had)  should  be  also  in  that  Wing  with  Brutus. 
...  In  the  mean  time  Brutus,  that  led  the  right  Wing,  sent  little  Bills  to 
the  Colonels  and  Captains  of  private  Bands,  in  the  which  he  wrote  the 
word  of  the  Battell." 

"  First  of  all  he  (Cassius)  was  marvellous  angry  to  see  how  Brutus  men 
ran  to  give  charge  upon  their  Enemies,  and  tarried  not  for  the  word  of  the 
Battell,  nor  commandment  to  give  charge  :  and  it  grieved  him  beside,  that 


180  NOTES. 

after  he  had  overcome  them,  his  men  fell  straight  to  spoil,  and  were  not 
carefull  to  compass  in  the  rest  of  the  Enemies  behind  :  but  with  tanying 
too  long  also,  more  then  through  the  valiantness  or  foresight  of  the  Cap- 
tains his  Enemies,  Cassius  found  himself  compassed  in  with  the  right  wing 
of  his  Enemies  Army.  Whereupon  his  horsemen  brake  immediatly,  and 
fled  for  life  towards  the  Sea.  P^urthermore,  perceiving  his  Footmen  to 
give  ground,  he  did  what  he  could  to  keep  them  from  flying,  and  took  an 
Ensign  from  one  of  the  Ensign-Bearers  that  fled,  and  stuck  it  fast  at  his 
feet :  although  with  much  ado  he  could  scant  keep  his  own  Guard  togeth- 
er. So  Cassius  himself  was  at  length  compelled  to  flie,  with  a  few  about 
him,  unto  a  little  Hill,  from  whence  they  might  easily  see  what  was  done 
in  all  the  plain:  howbeit  Cassius  himself  saw  nothing,  for  his  sight  was 
very  bad,  saving  that  he  saw  (and  yet  with  much  ado)  how  the  Enemies 
spoiled  his  Camp  before  his  eyes.  He  saw  also  a  great  Troop  of  Horse- 
men, whom  Brutus  sent  to  aid  him,  and  thought  that  they  were  his  Ene- 
mies that  followed  him  :  but  yet  he  sent  Titinnius,  one  of  them  that  was 
with  him,  to  go  and  know  what  they  were.  Brutus  horsmen  saw  him 
coming  afar  off,  whom  when  they  knew  that  he  was  one  of  Cassius  chief- 
est  friends,  they  shouted  out  for  joy,  and  they  that  were  familiarly  ac- 
quainted with  him,  lighted  from  their  Horses,  and  went  and  embraced 
him.  The  rest  compassed  him  in  round  about  on  horse-back,  with  Songs 
of  Victory,  and  great  rushing  of  their  Harness,  so  that  they  made  all  the 
Field  ring  again  for  joy.  But  this  marred  all.  For  Cassius  thinking  in- 
deed that  Titinnius  was  taken  of  the  Enemies,  he  then  spake  these  words  : 
Desiring  too  much  to  live,  I  have  lived  to  see  one  of  my  best  friends  taken, 
for  my  sake,  before  my  face.  After  that,  he  got  into  a  Tent  where  no  body 
was,  and  took  Pindarus  with  him,  one  of  his  Bondmen  whom  he  reserved 
ever  for  such  a  pitch,  since  the  cursed  battle  of  the  Parthians  where 
Crassus*  was  slain,  though  he  notwithstanding  scaped  from  that  over- 
throw :  but  then  casting  his  cloak  over  his  head,  and  holding  out  his  bare 
neck  unto  Pindarus,  he  gave  him  his  head  to  be  stricken  off.  So  the 
head  was  found  severed  from  the  body  :  but  after  that  time  Pindarus  was 
never  seen  more.  Whereupon,  some  took  occasion  to  say  that  he  had 
slain  his  master  without  his  commandment.  By  and  by  they  knew  the 
horsemen  that  came  towards  them,  and  might  see  Titinnius  crowned  with 
a  Garland  of  triumph,  who  came  before  with  great  speed  unto  Cassius. 
But  when  he  perceived,  by  the  cries  and  tears  of  his  friends  which  tor- 
mented themselves,  the  misfortune  which  had  chanced  to  his  Captain 
Cassius  by  mistaking,  he  drew  out  his  sword,  cursing  himself  a  thousand 
times  that  he  had  tarried  so  long,  and  slew  himself  presently  in  the  field. 
Brutus  in  the  mean  time  came  forward  still,  and  understood  also  that 
Cassius  had  been  overthrown  :  but  he  knew  nothing  of  his  death,  till  he 
came  very  near  to  his  Camp.  So  when  he  was  come  thither,  af.er  he  had 
lamented  the  death  of  Cassius,  calling  him  the  last  of  all  the  ROMANS  ; 
being  impossible  that  Romk  should  ever  breed  again  so  noble  and  val- 
iant a  man  as  he  :  he  caused  his  body  to  be  buried,  and  sent  it  to  the  city 
ot  Thassos,  fearing  lest  his  funerals  within  the  Camp  should  cause  great 
disorder."  .  .  . 

*  Misprinted  "Cassius"  in  the  ed.  of  1676. 


ACT  V.    SCENE  II.  i8t 

"There  was  the  son  of  Marcus  Cato  slain,  valiantly  fighting  among  the 
lusty  youths.  For,  notwithstanding  that  he  was  very  weary  and  over- 
harried,  yet  would  he  not  therefore  fly,  but  manfully  fighting  and  laying 
about  him,  telling  aloud  his  name,  and  also  his  fathers  name,  at  length  he 
was  beaten  down  among  many  other  dead  bodies  of  his  enemies  which  he 
had  slain  round  about  him.  So  there  were  slain  in  the  field,  all  the  chief- 
est  Gentlemen  and  Nobility  that  were  in  his  Army,  who  valiantly  ran  into 
any  danger  to  save  Brutus  life :  amongst  whom  there  was  one  of  Brutus 
friends  called  Lucilius,  who  see  a  troop  of  barbarous  men,  making  no 
reckoning  of  all  men  else  they  met  in  their  way,  but  going  altogether 
right  against  Brutus,  he  determined  to  stay  them  with  the  hazard  of  life, 
and  being  left  behind,  told  them  that  he  was  Brutus :  and  because  they 
should  believe  him,  he  prayed  them  to  bring  him  to  Antonius,  for  he  said 
he  was  afraid  of  Casar,  and  that  he  did  trust  Antonius  better.  These  bar- 
barous men  being  very  glad  of  this  good  hap,  and  thinking  themselves 
happy  men,  they  carried  him  in  the  night,  and  sent  some  before  unto  An- 
tonius to  tell  him  of  their  coming.  He  was  marvellous  glad  of  it,  and 
went  out  to  meet  them  that  brought  him.  ...  In  the  meantime  Lucilius 
was  brought  to  him,  who  with  a  bold  countenance  said  :  Antonius,  I  dare 
assure,  thee,  that  no  enemy  hath  taken,  or  shall  take  Marcus  Brutus  alive : 
and  I  beseech  God  keep  him  from  that  fortune :  but  wheresoever  he  be 
found,  alive  or  dead,  he  will  be  found  like  himself.  .  .  .  Lucilius  words 
made  them  all  amazed  that  heard  him.  Antonius  on  the  other  side,  look- 
ing upon  all  them  that  had  brought  him,  said  unto  them :  My  friends,  I 
think  ye  are  sorry  you  have  failed  of  your  purpose,  and  that  you  think 
this  man  hath  done  great  wrong :  but  I  assure  you,  you  have  taken  a 
better  booty  then  that  you  followed.  For,  instead  of  an  Enemy,  you  have 
brought  me  a  friend  :  and  for  my  part,  if  you  had  brought  me  Brutus  alive, 
truly  I  cannot  tell  what  I  should  have  done  to  him.  For  I  had  rather 
have  such  men  as  this  my  friends  then  my  enemies.  Then  he  embraced 
Lucilius,  and  at  that  time  delivered  him  to  one  of  his  friends  in  custody ; 
and  Lucilius  ever  after  served  him  faithfully,  even  to  his  death." 

"  Furthermore,  Brutus  thought  that  there  was  no  great  number  of  men 
slain  in  battle  :  and,  to  know  the  truth  of  it,  there  was  one  called  Slatilius, 
that  promised  to  go  through  his  Enemies,  for  otherwise  it  was  impossible 
to  go  see  their  Camp :  and  thereupon  if  all  were  well,  he  would  lift  up  a 
torch-light  in  the  Air,  and  then  return  again  with  speed  to  him.  The 
torch-light  was  lift  up  as  he  had  promised,  for  Statilius  went  thither  :  and 
a  good  while  after  Brutus  seeing  that  Statilius  came  not  again,  he  said : 
If  Statilius  be  alive  he  will  come  again.  But  his  evil  fortune  was  such 
that,  as  he  came  back,  he  fell  into  his  Enemies  hands  and  was  slain.  Now 
the  night  being  far  spent,  Brutus  as  he  sate  bowed  towards  Clitics  one  of 
his  men,  and  told  him  somewhat  in  his  ear  :  the  other  answered  him  not, 
but  fell  a  weeping.  Thereupon  he  proved  Dardanus,  and  said  somewhat 
also  to  him :  and  at  the  last  he  came  to  Volumnius  himself,  and  speaking 
to  him  in  Greek,  prayed  him,  for  the  studies  sake  which  brought  them  ac- 
quainted together,  that  he  would  help  him  to  put  his  hand  to  his  sword, 
to  thrust  it  in  him  to  kill  him.  Volumnius  denied  his  request,  and  so  did 
many  others  :  and  amongst  the  rest,  one  of  them  said,  there  was  no  tarry- 


1 82  NOTES. 

ing  for  them  there,  but  they  must  needs  fly.  Then  Brutus  rising  up,  said, 
We  must  fly  indeed,  but  it  must  be  with  our  hands,  not  with  our  feet 
Then  taking  every  man  by  the  hand,  he  said  these  words  unto  them  with 
a  chearful  countenance :  It  rejoyceth  my  heart,  that  none  of  my  friends 
hath  failed  me  at  my  need,  and  I  do  not  complain  of  my  fortune,  but  onely 
for  my  countries  sake  :  for  as  for  me,  I  think  my  self  happier  than  they 
that  have  overcome,  considering  that  I  have  a  perpetuall  fame  of  vertue 
and  honesty,  the  which  our  Enemies  the  Conquerors  shall  never  attain 
unto  by  force  nor  money  ;  neither  can  let*  their  posterity  to  say,  that  they 
being  naughty  and  unjust  men,  have  slain  good  men,  to  usurp  tyrannicall 
power  not  pertaining  to  them.  Having  so  said,  he  prayed  every  man  to 
shift  for  himself,  and  then  he  went  a  little  aside  with  two  or  three  onely, 
among  the  which  Strato  was  one,  with  whom  he  came  first  acquainted  by 
the  study  of  Rhetorick.  He  came  as  near  to  him  as  he  could,  and  taking 
his  sword  by  the  hilt  with  both  his  hands,  and  falling  down  upon  the  point 
of  it,  ran  himself  through.  Others  say  that  not  he,  but  Strato  (at  his  re- 
quest) held  the  sword  in  his  hand,  and  turned  his  head  aside,  and  that 
Brutus  fell  down  upon  it,  and  so  ran  himself  through,  and  died  presently. 
Messala,  that  had  been  Brutus  great  friend,  reconciled  afterwards  to  be 
Octavius  Ccesar's  friend,  and  shortly  after,  Cccsar  being  at  good  leisure,  he 
brought  Strato,  Brutus  friend  unto  him,  and  weeping  said  :  Casar,  behold, 
here  is  he  that  did  the  last  service  to  my  Brutus.  Then  Cccsar  received 
him,  and  afterwards  he  did  as  faithfull  service  in  all  his  affairs,  as  any 
Grecian  else  he  had  about  him,  untill  the  Battle  of  Actium." 

Scene  III. — 3.  /  slew  the  coward,  and  did  take  it  from  him.  That  is, 
took  the  ensign  from  him.  Ensign  means  either  the  standard  or  the 
standard-bearer,  and  here  it  may  be  said  to  be  used  for  both. 

7.  Took  it  too  eagerly.     Followed  up  the  advantage  too  eagerly. 

11.  Far.     See  on  iii.  2.  165  above. 

18.  Yond.     See  on  i.  2.  190  above. 

32.  Now  some  light.  W.  and  H.  print  '"light,"  but  the  word  (A.  S. 
lihtau)  is  not  a  contraction  of  alight,  and  is  common  enough  in  prose, 
See  the  description  of  this  scene  in  N.,  quoted  above  ;  and  cf.  Gen.  xxiv. 
64,  2  A'ings,  v.  21,  etc. 

38.  Saving  of  thy  life.     See  Gr.  178. 

43.  The  hilts.  Cf.  Rich.  III.  i.  4.  160:  "with  the  hilts  of  thy  sword." 
S.  uses  hilts  of  a  single  weapon  five  times,  hilt  three  times. 

51.  But  change.  "Only  a  succession  of  alternations  or  vicissitudes" 
(Craik). 

Thou  dost  sink  to  night.     Some  print  "to-night;"  but,  as  Craik  re- 
marks, "a  far  nobler  sense  is  given  to  the  words  by  taking  sink  to  night 
to  be  an  expression  of  the  same  kind  with  sink  to  rcst.n     The  folio 
"  thou  doest  sink  to  night ;"  and  elsewhere  doest  and  dat  are  used  indis- 
criminately.    Cf.  i.  1.  8  above.     We  find  didest  in  Ham.  iv.  7.  58. 

65.  Mistrust  of  my  success.  See  ii.  2.  6  above.  Bacon  {Adv.  cf  L.  ii. 
4.  2)  speaks  of  "  the  successes  and  issues  of  actions." 

85.  But  hold  thee.     See  i.  3.  1 16  above.     Gr.  2 1 2. 
•  That  is,  hinder. 


ACT  V.    SCENE  III. 


183 


't   /    S 


7  *m    /--"-' 


.  .1   v/  /  X     •       .--  ft'      r 


"Go,  Pindarus,  get  higher  on  that  h 


20). 


86.  Bid.  S.  often  uses  bid  for  both  bade  and  bidden.  Tie  has  &27&  fre- 
quently, but  bidden  only  once  {Much  Ado,  iii.  3.  32).     Cf.  Gr.  342,  343. 

96.  /«  0//r  tnun  proper  entrails.  On  z'«  =  into,  see  Gr.  159.  Y ox  proper, 
see  on  i.  2.  38  above.     Cf.  A.  W.  iv.  2.  49. 

97.  Whether.     See  on  i.  1.  61  above. 

99.    7!^  /aj/  0/W/  //z^  Rojnans.    Rowe  reads  "  Thou  last ;"  but  N.  has 
the  expression  (see  extract  above),  and  S.  probably  copied  it.     Gr.  13. 
101.  Aloe.     See  on  ii.  1.  72  above. 

104.  Thassos.  The  folio  has  "Tharsus,"  a  misprint  for  the  "Thassos" 
of  N.  Theo.  made  the  correction.  The  Camb.  ed.  gives  "Thasos,"  the 
classical  form  of  the  name. 

105.  His  funerals.  See  Temp.  p.  143,  note  on  The  nuptial.  W.  says  that 
"the  plural  was  the  commoner  form  in  S.'s  day,  and  is  generally  used  by 
him."  S.usesfunera/s  only  twice  (not  counting  a  third  instance,  in  M.  N.  D. 
i.  1.  14,  where  it  is  a  true  plural),  while  he  has  funeral  some  fifteen  times. 
The  latter  occurs  five  times  (as  a  noun)  in  act  iii.  of  the  present  play. 

108.  Labeo  and  Flavins.  The  folio  has  "  Labio  and  Ftauio.11  See  on 
i.  2. 3  above. 


1 84 


NOTES. 


Scene  IV. — 2.  What  bastard  doth  not?  See  on  ii.  1.  138  and  iv.  3.  20 
above. 

12.  Only  /yield  to  die.     For  the  transposition,  see  Gr.  420. 

13.  There  is  so  much,  etc.  So  much  money,  on  condition  that  thou  wilt 
kill  me  at  once.    The  meaning  seems  plain  enough,  but  Warb.  mistook  it. 

17.  /  '//  tell  the  news.  The  folio  has  "  He  tell  thee  newes  ;"  corrected 
by  Pope. 

Scene  V. — 9.  Hark  thee.  Here  thee  is  a  corruption  for  thou.  See  Gr.  212. 

14.  That  it  runs  over.     So  that,  etc.     Gr.  283. 

19.  And,  this  last  night,  here  in  Philippi  fields.  Cf.  N.  {Life  of  Ca:sar)  : 
"The  second  Battell  being  at  hand,  this  Spirit  appeared  again  unto  him, 
but  spake  never  a  word.  Thereupon  Brutus  knowing  that  he  should  die, 
did  put  himself  to  all  hazard  in  Battell,  but  yet  fighting  could  not  be  slain." 
See  also  Life  of  Brutus:  "The  Romans  called  the  Valley  between  both 
Camps,  the  Philippian  Fields."     Gr.  22. 

23.  Have  beat  us.     Cf.  Cor.  i.  6.40:  "  had  beat  you,"  etc.     Gr.  343. 

33.  Farewell  to  thee,  too,  Strato.  The  folio  reads,  "Farewell  to  thee, 
to  Strato,  Countrymen  ;"  corrected  by  Theo.  For  the  change  from  you 
("  Farewell  to  you,"  etc.)  to  thee,  see  Gr.  232. 


~:ilY 


ACT  V.    SCENE   V.  ^5 

35.  I  found  no  man  but,  etc.     For  but,  see  Gr.  123. 
38.  Shall  attain  unto.     For  unto,  see  Gr.  4570. 

45.  Of  a  good  respect.     Cf.  i.  2.  54  above. 

46.  Some  smote k.  The  folio  reading.  Smatch  is  only  another  form  of 
smack,  which  S.  uses  elsewhere,  and  which  W.  substitutes  here. 

60.  I  will  entertain  them.  I  will  take  them  into  my  service.  Cf.  Lear, 
in.  6.  83  :  "  You,  sir,  I  entertain  for  one  of  my  hundred,"  etc. 

61.  Bestow  thy  lime  with  me.     "Give  up  thy  time  to  me"  (Craik). 

62.  Ay,  if  Messala  will  prefer  me  to  thee.  "Prefer  seems  to  have  been 
the  established  phrase  for  recommending  a  servant"  (Reed).  Cf.  Bacon, 
Adv.  of  L.  ii.  21,  1  :  "  And  if  it  be  said,  that  the  cure  of  men's  minds  be- 
longeth  to  sacred  divinity,  it  is  most  true  ;  but  yet  moral  philosophy  may 
be  preferred  unto  her  as  a  wise  servant  and  humble  handmaid."  Here 
Craik  thinks  it  means  "to  transfer,  or  hand  over,"  but  it  merely  implies 
the  transfer.  Messala,  of  course,  could  not  recommend  his  servant  to  a 
new  master  without  giving  up  his  own  claim  upon  him. 

68.  This  was  the  noblest  Roman,  etc.  Cf.  N.  (Life  cf  Brutus) :  "  For  it 
was  said  that  Antonius  spake  it  openly  divers  times,  that  he  thought,  that 
of  all  them  that  had  slain  Cczsar,  there  was  none  but  Brutus  onely  that 
was  moved  to  do  it,  as  thinking  the  act  commendable  of  it  self:  but  that 
all  the  other  Conspiratours  did  conspire  his  death  for  some  private  malice 
or  envy,  that  they  otherwise  did  bear  unto  him.,, 

69.  Save  only  he.     See  on  iii.  2.  59  above. 

71.  He  only,  in  a  general  honest  thought,  etc.    The  folio  reading,  retained 
by  all  the  editors  except  Coll.  and  Craik,  who  adopt  the  emendation  of 
the  Coll.  MS. :       M  He  only  in  a  generous  honest  thought 
Of  common  good,"  etc. 

D.  prints  "general-honest,"  which  Abbott  (Gr.  2)  is  disposed  to  favour. 

73.  His  life  was  gentle,  etc.  This  passage  resembles  one  which  appears 
in  the  revised  edition  of  Drayton's  poem  of  The  Barons'1  Wars,  published 
in  1603,  and  it  has  been  a  matter  of  dispute  among  the  critics  which  poet 
was  the  borrower.  If  either,  it  must  have  been  Drayton,  since  we  know 
that  Julius  Casar  was  written  before  1601  (see  p.  8  above);  but  there 
may  have  been  no  imitation  on  either  side.  "  The  notion  that  man  was 
composed  of  the  four  elements,  earth,  air,  fire,  and  water,  and  that  the 
well-balanced  mixture  of  these  produced  the  perfection  of  humanity," 
was  then  commonly  accepted,  and  often  appears  in  the  writers  of  the 
period  (W.).  Cf.  B.  J.,  Cynthia's  Revels,  ii.  3  :  "  A  creature  of  a  most  per- 
fect and  divine  temper,  one  in  whom  the  humours  and  elements  are  peace- 
ably met,  without  emulation  of  precedency." 

The  following  is  the  form  in  which  the  passage  in  Drayton  appears  in 
the  edition  of  1603,  and  in  five  subsequent  editions  published  during  the 
next  ten  years  : 

"  Such  one  he  was,  of  him  we  boldly  say, 
In  whose  rich  soul  all  sovereign  powers  did  suit, 
In  whom  in  peace  th'  elements  all  lay 
So  mixt.  as  none  could  sovereignty  impute  ; 
As  all  did  govern,  yet  all  did  obey : 
His  lively  temper  was  so  absolute, 


,86  ADDENDA. 

That  't  seemed  when  heaven  his  model  first  began, 
In  him  it  showed  perfection  in  a  man." 

In  the  edition  of  1619  it  is  recast  as  follows  : 

"  He  was  a  man  (then  boldly  dare  to  say) 
In  whose  rich  soul  the  virtues  well  did  suit, 
In  whom  so  mixt  the  elements  did  lay 
That  none  to  one  could  sovereignty  impute; 
As  ail  did  govern,  so  did  all  obey  : 
He  of  a  temper  was  so  absolute, 
As  that  it  seemed,  when  Nature  him  began, 
She  meant  to  show  all  that  might  be  in  man." 

81.  To  part  the  glories,  etc.    That  is,  to  share  or  divide  them.    See  Hen. 
VIII.  p.  199,  note  on  They  had  parted.     Cf.  Matt,  xxvii.  35. 


ADDENDA. 

The  "Time- Analysis"  of  the  Play. — This  is  summed  up  by  Mr. 
P.  A.  Daniel  {Trans,  of  New  Shahs.  Soc.  1877-79,  p.  199)  thus  : 

"  Time  of  the  Play,  6  days  represented  on  the  stage  ;  with  intervals. 
Day  1.  Act  I.  sc.  i.  and  ii. 

Interval — one  month.* 
"     2.  Act  I.  sc.  iii. 
"    3.  Acts  II.  and  III. 

Interval. 
"     4.  Act  IV.  sc.  i. 

Interval. 
"     5.  Act  IV.  sc.  ii.  and  iii. 

Intei-val — one  day  at  least. 
'■■  6.  Act  V. 
" '  The  real  length  of  time  in  Jnlins  Ccesar  is  as  follows :  About  the  mid- 
dle of  February  A.u.c.  709,  a  frantic  festival,  sacred  to  Pan,  and  called 
Lupercalia,  was  held  in  honour  of  Caesar,  when  the  regal  crown  was  of- 
fered to  him  by  Antony.  On  the  15  March  in  the  same  year,  he  w.is 
slain.  November  27,  A.U.C.  710,  the  triumvirs  met  at  a  small  island, 
formed  by  the  river  Rhenus,  near  Bononia,  and  there  adjusted  their  cruel 
proscription. — a.u.c.  711,  Brutus  and  Cassius  were  defeated  near  Phi- 
lippi'  (Upton)." 

Shakespeare's  Use  of  North's  Plutarch. — Archbishop  Trench, 
in  his  Lectures  on  Plutarch,  referring  to  North's  translation  of  the 
says  : 

"  But  the  highest  title  to  honour  which  this  version  possesses  has  not 

*  An  interval  is  required  historically,  but  Mr.  Furnivall  says:   "Note  how  the  even- 
irrg  of  March  14  is  seemingly  made  MM  with  that  of  Feb.  ij  by  Cicero's  'C'asca.  brought 

}'ou  Qeaar  home?'  (i.  3.  1),  as  if  from  the  l.upercalia  of  Feb.  15,  B.C.  44  Hut  as  on  the 
aUer  day  S.  has  put  the  triumph  of  Caesar  which  took  place  early  in  the  October  before 
(b c  45),  he  may  have  meant  to  annihilate  the  one  month.  Feb.  March.  44  (not  directly 
mentioned  in  Plutarch's  three  source-Lives)  as  he  did  the  four  months,  Oct.  45- Feb.  44. 


ADDENDA.  187 

hitherto  been  mentioned,  namely,  the  use  which  Shakespeare  was  con- 
tent to  make  of  it.  Whatever  Latin  Shakespeare  may  have  had,  he  cer- 
tainly knew  no  Greek,  and  thus  it  was  only  through  Sir  Thomas  North's 
translation  that  the  rich  treasure-house  of  Plutarch's  Lives  was  accessible 
to  him.  Nor  do  I  think  it  too  much  to  affirm  that  his  three  great  Ro- 
man plays,  reproducing  the  ancient  Roman  world  as  no  other  modem 
poetry  has  ever  done — I  refer  to  Coriolanus,  Julius  Ccesar,  and  Antony 
and  Cleopatra — would  never  have  existed,  or,  had  Shakespeare  lighted  by 
chance  on  these  arguments,  would  have  existed  in  forms  altogether  dif- 
ferent from  those  in  which  they  now  appear,  if  Plutarch  had  not  written, 
and  Sir  Thomas  North,  or  some  other  in  his  place,  had  not  translated. 
We  have  in  Plutarch  not  the  framework  or  skeleton  only  of  the  story,  no, 
nor  yet  merely  the  ligaments  and  sinews,  but  very  much  also  of  the  flesh 
and  blood  wherewith  these  are  covered  and  clothed. 

"  How  noticeable  in  this  respect  is  the  difference  between  Shakespeare's 
treatment  of  Plutarch  and  his  treatment  of  others,  upon  whose  hints,  more 
or  less  distinct,  he  elsewhere  has  spoken.  How  little  is  it  in  most  cases 
which  he  condescends  to  use  of  the  materials  offered  to  his  hand.  Take, 
for  instance,  his  employment  of  some  Italian  novel,  Bandello's  or  Cin- 
thio's.  He  derives  from  it  the  barest  outline — a  suggestion  perhaps  is 
all,  with  a  name  or  two  here  and  there,  but  neither  dialogue  nor  charac- 
ter. On  the  first  fair  occasion  that  offers  he  abandons  his  original  alto- 
gether, that  so  he  may  expatiate  freely  in  the  higher  and  nobler  world  of 
his  own  thoughts  and  fancies.  But  his  relations  with  Plutarch  are  differ- 
ent— different  enough  to  justify,  or  almost  to  justify,  the  words  of  Jean 
Paul,  when  in  his  Titan  he  calls  Plutarch  'der  biographische  Shakespeare 
der  Weltgeschichte.'  What  a  testimony  we  have  to  the  true  artistic  sense 
and  skill,  which  with  all  his  occasional  childish  simplicity  the  old  biogra- 
pher possesses,  in  the  fact  that  the  mightiest  and  completest  artist  of  all 
times  should  be  content  to  resign  himself  into  his  hands,  and  simply  to 
follow  where  the  other  leads  ! 

"  His  Julius  Ccesar  will  abundantly  bear  out  what  I  have  just  affirmed 
— a  play  dramatically  and  poetically  standing  so  high  that  it  only  just 
falls  short  of  that  supreme  rank  which  Lear  and  Othello,  Hamlet  and 
Macbeth  claim  for  themselves,  without  rival  or  competitor  even  from 
among  the  creations  of  the  same  poet's  brain.  It  is  hardly  an  exagger- 
ation to  say  that  the  whole  play — and  the  same  stands  good  of  Corio-^ 
lanus  no  less — is  to  be  found  in  Plutarch.  Shakespeare  indeed  has 
thrown  a  rich  mantle  of  poetry  over  all,  which  is  often  wholly  his  own  ; 
but  of  the  incident  there  is  almost  nothing  which  he  does  not  owe  to 
Plutarch,  even  as  continually  he  owes  the  very  wording  to  Sir  Thomas 
North." 

Have  wished  that  noble  Brutus  had  his  eyes  (i.  2.  58).  It  is  a  question 
whether  his  refers  to  Brutus,  or  is  =their,  referring  to  the  subject  of  Have. 
Delius  gives  the  former  explanation  ;  but  Wr.  makes  out  a  plausible  case 
in  favour  of  the  latter:  "The  speakers  wished  Brutus  to  see  himself  as 
they  saw  him,  and  to  recognize  his  own  importance  at  such  a  crisis  (see 
ii.  1. 92, 93).  This  seems  to  be  the  whole  point  of  Cassius'  appeal."  For 
the  other  sense  in  other  passages,  cf.  M.  of  V.  ii.  2.  79:  "  Nay,  indeed,  if 


1 88  ADDENDA. 

you  had  your  eyes,  you  might  fail  of  the  knowing  me  ;"  and  A.  Y.  L.  i.  2. 
185  :  "  It  you  saw  yourself  with  your  eyes,  or  knew  yourself  with  your 
judgment,"  etc. 

/  had  as  lief  not  be  as  live  to  be  (i.  2.  91).  The  quibble  illustrates  the 
old  pronunciation  of  lief  which  was  often  printed  lieve.  See  A.  Y.  L.  p. 
139,  note  on  133. 

For  once  upon  a  raw  ami  gusty  day,  etc.  (i.  2.  96).  Caesar  was  famous 
as  a  swimmer.  Wr.  quotes  Suetonius  (J.  C.  64)  :  "  At  Alexandria  being 
busie  about  the  assault  aud  winning  of  a  bridge  where  by  a  sodaine  sal- 
lie  of  the  enemies  he  was  driven,  to  take  a  boat,  &  many  besides  made 
hast  to  get  into  the  same,  he  lept  into  the  sea,  and  by  swimming  almost 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  recouered  cleare  the  next  ship :  bearing  up  his  left 
hand  all  the  while,  for  feare  the  writings  which  he  held  therein  should 
take  wet,  and  drawing  his  rich  coate  armour  after  him  by  the  teeth,  be- 
cause the  enemie  should  not  have  it  as  a  spoyle."  Plutarch's  account 
makes  the  feat  still  more  difficult :  "  The  third  danger  was  in  the  battel 
by  sea,  that  was  fought  by  the  tower  of  Phar:  where  meaning  to  helpe 
his  men  that  fought  by  sea,  he  leapt  from  the  peere  into  a  boate.  Then 
the  ^Egyptians  made  towards  him  with  their  oares  on  euery  side :  but 
he  leaping  into  the  sea,  with  great  hazard  saued  himselfe  by  swimming. 
It  is  said,  that  then  holding  diuers  books  in  his  hand,  he  did  neuer  let 
them  go,  but  kept  them  always  vpon  his  head  aboue  water,  and  swam 
with  the  other  hand,  notwithstanding  that  they  shot  maruellously  at  him, 
and  was  driuen  somtime  to  ducke  into  the  water;  howbeit  ye  boate  was 
drowned  presently." 

The  eternal  devil  (p.  133).  Wr.  believes  that  eternal  was  probably  used 
"to  avoid  coming  under  the  operation  of  the  Act  of  James  I.  'to  restrain 
the  abuses  of  players'  in  the  use  of  profane  language."  He  notes  that 
while  we  find  infernal  in  Much  Ado,  2  Hen.  IV.,  and  T.  A.,  all  of  which 
were  printed  in  1600,  eternal  is  used  as  the  equivalent  for  that  word  in 
Hamlet,  Othello,  and  J.  C,  which  were  probably  produced  after  1600. 
As  Weever  alludes  to  J.  C.  in  1601  (see  p.  8  above),  the  play  must  have 
been  brought  out  that  very  year,  if  this  inference  is  a  sound  one. 

He  should  not  humour  me  (p.  136).  Wr.  is  inclined  to  agree  with  War- 
burton,  because  "Cassius  is  all  along  speaking  of  his  own  influence  over 
Brutus,  notwithstanding  the  difference  of  their  characters,  which  made 
Caesar  dislike  the  one  and  love  the  other."  The  chief  objection  to  War- 
burton's  explanation,  in  our  opinion,  is  that  it  seems  to  leave  the  mention 
of  Caesar  unconnected  with  what  follows.  We  fancy  that  this  occurred 
to  Wr.,  and  that  what  we  have  just  quoted  is  an  attempt  to  meet  the  ob- 
jection ;  but,  to  our  thinking,  it  is  far  from  successful.  If  we  accept  John- 
son's interpretation,  he  should  not  humour  me  naturally  follows  what  pre- 
cedes, and  is  naturally  followed  by  what  comes  after:  Caesar  should  not 
cajole  me  as  he  does  Brutus  ;  and  I  am  going  to  take  measures  to  coun- 
teract the  influence  Caesar  has  over  him. 

Remorse  (p.  142).  Wr.  explains  this  as  ="  tender  feeling,  pity;  not 
necessarily  compunction  for  what  has  been  done  ;"  and  this,  we  think, 
is  the  meaning.  H.  defines  remorse  as  "conscience,  or  conscientious- 
ness;" and  reason  in  21  is  "  used  hi  the  same  sense,"  the  conscience  bo- 


ADDENDA.  189 

ing,  "in  a  philosophical  sense,  the  moral  reason."  This  seems  to  us 
"reading  into"  the  passage  a  meaning  that  is  not  there.  Brutus  simply 
says  that  power  is  liable  to  become  arbitrary  and  merciless  ;  in  its  am- 
bition to  rise  yet  higher,  it  thinks  only  of  itself  and  forgets  the  claims  of 
others.  Cf.  what  Prospero  says  to  Antonio  in  Temp.  v.  I.  76: 
"You,  brother  mine,  that  entertain'd  ambition, 
Expell  d  remorse  and  nature;" 

that  is,  pity  and  natural  feeling.  Remorse  is  the  mercy  of  Portia's  famous 
plea  (Af.  of  V.  iv.  1.  184  fob),  which  is  "enthroned  in  the  hearts  of  kings" 
and  "seasons,"  or  tempers,  even  "justice."  Brutus;  goes  on  to  say  that, 
to  speak  truth  of  Caesar,  he  has  not  yet  allowed  his  passions  to  prevail 
over  his  reason,  and  to  lead  him  to  abuse  his  greatness.  His  ambition  is 
still  under  the  control  of  his  better  judgment ;  it  has  not  yet  expelled  re- 
morse and  nature.  Craik  paraphrases  the  passage  very  well :  "  The  abuse 
to  which  greatness  is  most  subject  is  when  it  deadens  in  its  possessor 
the  natural  sense  of  humanity,  or  of  that  which  binds  us  to  our  kind; 
and  this  I  do  not  say  that  it  has  yet  done  in  the  case  of  Caesar  ;  I  have 
never  known  that  in  him  selfish  affection,  or  mere  passion,  has  carried 
it  over  reason." 

Coleridge  was  perplexed  by  what  follows,  and  asks,  "  What  character 
did  Shakespeare  mean  his  Brutus  to  be?"  H.  thinks  that  "the  poet 
must  have  regarded  him  simply  as  a  well-meaning,  but  conceited  and 
shallow  idealist."  As  an  idealist,  indeed,  but  not  as  "conceited  and  shal- 
low." That  was  not  Shakespeare's  conception  of  "  the  noblest  Roman 
of  them  all."  He  was  one  of  the  types  of  "  the  scholar  in  politics."  As 
Dowden  says  in  his  Primer :  "  Brutus  .  .  .  acts  as  an  idealizer  and  the- 
orizer  might,  with  no  eye  for  the  actual  bearing  of  facts,  and  no  sense  of 
the  true  importance  of  persons.  Intellectual  doctrines  and  moral  ideals 
rule  the  life  of  Brutus  ;  and  his  life  is  most  noble,  high,  and  stainless,  but 
his  public  action  is  a  series  of  mistakes.  Yet  even  while  he  errs  we  ad- 
mire him,  for  all  his  errors  are  those  of  a  pure  and  lofty  spirit.  .  .  .  All 
the  practical  gifts,  insight,  and  tact,  which  Brutus  lacks,  are  possessed  by 
Cassius ;  but  of  Brutus's  moral  purity,  veneration  of  ideals,  disinterest- 
edness, and  freedom  from  unworthy  personal  motive,  Cassius  possesses 
little." 

Coleridge  asks,  "  How  could  Brutus  say  that  he  found  no  personal 
cause — none  in  Caesar's  past  history  as  a  man  ?  Had  he  not  passed  the 
Rubicon?  Had  he  not  entered  Rome  as  a  conqueror?"  etc.  But  by 
personal  cause,  as  Bishop  Wordsworth  replies,  S.  evidently  meant  "what 
concerned  himself  (Brutus)  personally."  The  acts  to  which  Coleridge 
refers  all  come  under  the  exception  which  Brutus  had  named — but  f of 
the  general. 

Paul  Stapfer  remarks  :  "  The  death  of  Brutus  was  not  merely  the  pen- 
alty he  paid  for  a  series  of  imprudent  and  mistaken  actions,  but  was  also 
the  expiation  of  a  great  crime.  .  .  .  He  would  have  tried  by  suppressing 
present  evil  to  assure  the  well-being  of  the  future.  But  what  did  he 
know,  and  what  certitude  could  he  have  that  he  was  making  no  mistake  ? 
He  was  not  in  the  secret  of  the  universe  ;  for  who  has  known  the  thought 
of  the  Lord,  or  been  the  counsellor  of  the  Most  High?" 


1 9o  ADDENDA. 

High-sighted  tyranny  (ii.  i.  118).  Wr.  remarks  :  "There  seems  to  be 
an  implied  comparison  of  tyranny  to  an  eagle  or  bird  of  prey,  whose 
keen  eye  discovers  its  victim  from  the  highest  pitch  of  its  flight  We 
have  the  same  figure  in  the  first  scene  of  the  play  (1.  73,  etc.),  and  al- 
though the  primary  meaning  of  high-sighted  may  be  'proud,  supercilious,' 
there  is  a  secondary  meaning  in  keeping  with  the  comparison  of  tyranny 
to  a  bird  of  prey.  That  this  comparison  is  intended,  appears  to  me  to 
be  confirmed  by  the  occurrence  of  the  word  range  which  is  technically 
used  of  hawks  and  falcons  flying  in  search  of  game.  Turbervile  (  The 
Booke  of  Falconrie,  p.  23)  says  of  eagles:  'In  like  sort  they  take  other 
beastes,  and  sundry  times  doe  roue  and  range  abroad  to  beat  and  seaze 
on  Goates,  Kiddes,  and  Fawnes.'" 

O  name  him  not,  etc.  (ii.  1.  150-153).  As  Wr.  says,  "  S.  had  read  Cic- 
ero's character  with  consummate  ability;"  and  he  quotes  Merivale, 
Hist,  of  the  Romans  under  the  Empire,  iii.  187:  "All  men  and  all  par- 
ties agreed  that  he  could  not  be  relied  upon  to  lead,  to  co-operate,  or 
to  follow.  In  all  the  great  enterprises  of  his  party,  he  was  left  behind, 
except  that  which  the  nobles  undertook  against  Catilina,  in  which  they 
rather  thrust  him  before  them  than  engaged  with  him  on  terms  of  mutual 
support.  When  we  read  the  vehement  claims  which  Cicero  put  forth  to 
the  honour  of  association,  however  tardy,  with  the  glories  and  dangers 
of  Caesar's  assassins,  we  should  deem  the  conspirators  guilty  of  a  mon- 
strous oversight  in  having  neglected  to  enlist  him  in  their  design,  were 
we  not  assured  that  he  was  not  to  be  trusted  as  a  confederate  either  for 
good  or  evil." 

For  he  is  superstitious  grown  of  late  (ii.  I.  195).  Here  again  Wr.  quotes 
Merivale,  ii.  446 :  "Caesar  himself  professed  without  reserve  the  princi- 
ples of  the  unbelievers.  The  supreme  pontiff  of  the  commonwealth,  the 
head  of  the  college  whence  issued  the  decrees  which  declared  the  will  of 
the  gods,  as  inferred  from  the  signs  of  the  heavens,  the  flight  of  birds 
and  the  entrails  of  victims,  he  made  no  scruple  of  asserting  in  the  as- 
sembled senate  that  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  the  recognized  founda- 
tion of  all  religion,  was  a  vain  chimera.  Nor  did  he  hesitate  to  defy  the 
omens  which  the  priests  were  especially  appointed  to  observe.  He  de- 
cided to  give  battle  at  Munda  in  despite  of  the  most  adverse  auspices, 
when  the  sacrificers  assured  him  that  no  heart  was  found  in  the  victim. 
*  I  will  have  better  omens  when  I  choose,'  was  the  scornful  saying  with 
which  he  reassured  his  veterans  on  another  similar  occasion.  He  wis 
not  deterred  from  engaging  in  his  African  campaign  either  by  the  fortu- 
nate name  of  his  opponent  Scipio,  or  by  the  unfavourable  auspices  which 
were  studiously  reported  to  him.  Yet  Caesar,  freethinker  as  he  was.  could 
not  escape  from  the  universal  thraldom  of  superstition  in  which  his 
contemporaries  were  held.  We  have  seen  him  crawling  on  his  knees 
up  the  steps  of  the  Capitoline  temple  to  appease  the  Nemesis  which 
frowns  upon  human  prosperity.  When  he  stumbled  at  landing  <>n  the 
coast  of  Africa,  he  averted  the  evil  omen  with  happy  presence  of  mind, 
looking  at  the  handful  of  soil  he  had  grasped  in  his  fall,  and  exclaiming. 
'  Africa,  thou  art  mine  !'  In  a  man  who  was  consistent  in  his  incredulity 
this  might  be  deemed  a  trick  to  impose  on  the  soldiers'  imagination  ;  but 


ADDENDA. 


191 


it  assumes  another  meaning  in  the  mouth  of  one  who  never  mounted  a 
carriage  without  muttering  a  private  charm.  Before  the  battle  of  Phar- 
salia  Caesar  had  addressed  a  prayer  to  the  gods  whom  he  denied  in  the 
senate,  and  derided  in  the  company  of  his  literary  friends.  He  appealed 
to  the  divine  omens  when  he  was  about  to  pass  the  Rubicon.  He  car- 
ried about  with  him  in  Africa  a  certain  Cornelius  Salutio,  a  man  of  no 
personal  distinction,  to  neutralize,  as  he  hoped,  the  good  fortune  of  the 
Cornelii  in  the  opposite  ranks." 

The  watch  (ii.  2.  16).  "  S.  was  thinking  of  his  own  London,  not  of  an- 
cient Rome,  where  the  night  watchmen  were  not  established  before  the 
time  of  Augustus"  (Wr.). 

Know  Ccesar  doth  not  wrong,  etc.  (p.  157).  H.  adopts  the  reading  sug- 
gested by  Tyrwhitt : 

"  Metellus.    Cassar,  thou  dost  me  wrong. 
Ccesar.    Know,  Caesar  doth  not  wrong,  but  with  just  cause, 
Nor  without  cause  will  he  be  satisfied.'' 

Wr.  says :  "  I  am  not  convinced  that  any  change  is  necessary.  Caesar 
claims  infallibility  in  his  judgments,  and  a  firmness  of  temper  in  resisting 
appeals  to  his  vanity.  Metellus  bending  low  before  him  begins  a  flatter- 
ing speech.  Caesar,  knowing  that  his  object  was  to  obtain  a  reversal  of 
the  decree  of  banishment  which  had  been  pronounced  against  his  brother, 
abruptly  interrupts  him.  To  appeal  against  the  decree  implied  that  the 
decree  was  unjust;  to  demand  his  brother's  recall  without  assigning  a 
cause  was  to  impute  to  Caesar  that  fickleness  of  purpose  which  he  dis- 
dains in  such  strong  terms.  If  it  had  not  been  for  Ben  Jonson's  story, 
no  one  would  have  suspected  any  corruption  in  the  passage.  The  ques- 
tion is  whether  his  authority  is  sufficient  to  warrant  a  change.  Gifford 
thinks  that  he  gave  Shakespeare's  genuine  words,  and  that  what  appears 
in  the  text  is  the  players' '  botchery.'  If  the  lines  stood  as  Jonson  quotes 
them,  we  must  suppose  one  of  two  things :  either  that,  in  consequence 
of  the  ridicule  they  excited,  Shakespeare  himself  altered  them  ;  or  that 
they  were  altered  by  the  players  who  edited  the  first  folio,  as  Gifford  be- 
lieved. The  former  supposition  is  not  probable,  because  if  Jonson's  re- 
marks are  hypercritical  and  the  lines  yield  a  tolerable  sense,  Shakespeare 
would  have  been  aware  of  this  as  well  as  any  of  his  commentators,  and 
is  not  likely  to  have  made  a  change  which  is  confessedly  unnecessary. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  the  players  introduced  the  alteration,  it  is  not  easy 
to  see  why  they  should  have  left  out  the  words  which  Jonson  puts  into  the 
mouth  of  Metellus, '  Caesar,  thou  dost  me  wrong;'  nor  why  they  should 
have  written,'  Know,  Caesar  doth  not  wrong'  instead  of  '  Caesar  did  never 
wrong.'  The  argument  that  the  passage  is  obviously  corrupt  because  it 
ends  with  an  imperfect  line  is  of  no  weight,  because  it  would  apply  equal- 
ly to  the  proposed  restoration,  in  which  another  imperfect  line  is  intro- 
duced. On  the  whole,  I  am  disposed  to  believe  that  Ben  Jonson  loved 
his  jest  better  than  his  friend,  and  repeated  a  distorted  version  of  the 
passage  without  troubling  himself  about  its  accuracy,  because  it  afforded 
him  an  opportunity  of  giving  a  hit  at  Shakespeare.  It  is  worth  while  to 
remark  that  for  Metellus  to  interrupt  Caesar  with  the  petulant  exclama- 


1 92  ADDENDA. 

tion  '  Caesar,  thou  dost  me  wrong,'  is  out  of  character  with  the  tone  of 
his  speeches  before  and  after,  which  is  that  of  abject  flattery." 

Mr.  Fleay,  who  believes  that  J.  C.  in  its  present  form  is  a  play  of 
Shakespeare's  revised  by  Ben  Jonson,  takes  this  to  be  one  of  Ben's  "  cor- 
rections ;"  but  Mr.  Hales  (quoted  by  Furnivall  in  Trans,  of  New  Shaks. 
Soc.  1874,  p.  504)  remarks  that  if  Ben  Jonson  had  really  revised  Shake- 
speare's yulius  Ccesar,  he  would  certainly  have  told  us  that  he,  the  great 
Ben,  had  set  his  friend's  '  ridiculous'  passages  all  right.  Jonson  was  not 
the  man  to  hide  his  light  under  a  bushel." 

Our  arms,  in  strength  of  malice,  etc.  (p.  159).  Wr.  adds:  "  The  same 
apparently  contradictory  figure  is  used  by  S.  in  Polonius's  advice  to 
Laertes,  Ham.  i.  3.  63  : 

'The  friends  thou  hast,  and  their  adoption  tried, 
Grapple  them  to  thy  soul  with  hoops  of  steel ;' 

where  grapple  naturally  describes  a  hostile  and  not  a  friendly  act.  There 
is  something  of  the  same  idea  in  the  speech  of  Aufidius  to  Cotiolanus 
(Cor.  iv.  5.  112)  : 

4  Let  me  twine 

Mine  arms  about  that  body,  where  against 

My  grained  ash  an  hundred  times  hath  broke, 

And  scarr'd  the  moon  with  splinters:  here  1  clip 

Th !  anvil  of  my  sword,  and  do  contest 

As  hotly  and  as  nobly  with  thy  love 

As  ever  in  ambitious  strength  I  did 

Contend  against  thy  valour.' 

Singer  reads  'In  strength  of  amity;'  which,  if  any  change  be  necessary, 
is  the  best  that  has  been  proposed,  malice  and  amitie  being  woids  which 
might  be  confounded  by  a  printer.  But  it  gives  a  rather  feeble  sense,  and 
I  prefer  to  leave  the  text  as  it  stands,  although  the  figure  may  be  a  vio- 
lent one.  It  is  singular  that  one  of  the  passages  which  has  been  quoted 
in  support  of  Singer's  emendation  is  really  in  favour  of  the  text  as  it  is. 
In  A.  and  C.  iii.  2.  61,  Antony,  taking  leave  of  Caesar,  says : 
'  I    11  wrestle  with  you  in  my  strength  of  love ;' 

the  vehemence  of  his  embrace  had  a  hostile  character ;  his  strength  of 
love  was  employed  in  an  act  of  malice.  Here  the  figure  is  reversed,  and 
the  strength  of  malice  is  employed  in  an  act  of  love." 

Beholding  (p.  164).  Wr.  states  that  "beholden"  is  found  in  the  5th 
and  6th  quartos  of  Rich.  III.  in  iii.  1.  107.  It  is  also  the  form  in  Buret'*! 
Alvearie\\^Ji)  and  Cotgrave's  Fr.  Diet.  (161 1). 

Yon  know  not  what  you  do  (iii.  I.  233).  "  Brutns's  plan,  if  he  had  one, 
was  of  such  an  abstract  and  Utopian  nature,  that  it  was  equivalent  to 
having  none  at  all,  and  was  based  upon  a  complete  misconception  of  the 
circumstances  and  needs  of  the  time.  It  was  the  plan  of  an  idealist,  who 
fancied  himself  living  in  the  Republic  of  Cato,  instead  of  being  in  all  the 

tumult  of  a  town  in  revolution.     This  plainly  shows  itself  after  Ca 
death,  when  Brutus  commits  the  enormous  imprudence  of  allowing  An- 
tony to  speak  at  Caesar's  funeral.     Cassias   it  once  measured  the  conse- 
quences of  this  error,  and  says  to  Brutus  You  know  not  what  you  do" 
(Paul  Stapfer). 


ADDENDA. 


193 


Friends,  Romans,  countrymen,  etc.  (iii.  2.  71  fol.).  "There  is  no  rea- 
son to  suppose  that  Shakespeare  went  beyond  North's  Plutarch  for  hints 
when  he  wrote  the  speeches  of  Brutus  and  Antony.  Those  which  are 
put  into  their  mouths  by  Appian,  and  of  which  there  was  a  translation  in 
English  published  in  1578,  have  no  points  of  resemblance  to  these.  Like 
Brutus,  Antony  speaks  under  constraint,  but  for  a  different  reason.  The 
object  of  Brutus  was  to  convince  the  people  by  argument  that  Caesar 
was  justly  slain,  and  to  avoid  exciting  their  passions.  Antony  endeav- 
oured to  excite  their  passions  without  seeming  to  do  so,  or  offending  the 
conspirators,  and  while  appearing  to  speak  within  the  limits  allowed  him 
by  Brutus.  He  therefore  proceeds  with  great  caution,  speaks  touchingly 
of  his  affection  for  Caesar,  of  Caesar's  liberality  to  the  people,  incidentally 
disproves  the  charge  of  ambition,  and  then  overcome  by  his  feelings  he 
breaks  off  to  see  the  effect  produced  by  his  speech.  By  this  time  he  has 
secured  the  attention  of  the  fourth  citizen,  who  is  the  strong  partisan  of 
Brutus.  Beginning  again,  he  works  upon  the  compassion  of  his  hearers, 
and  then  gradually  excites  their  curiosity  about  Caesar's  will  until  they 
insist  upon  having  it  read,  and  give  Antony  an  opportunity  for  the  pow- 
erful appeal  which  stirred  them  to  such  a  sudden  flood  of  mutiny  that  it 
swept  everything  before  it,  the  fourth  citizen  being  now  foremost  in  the 
work  of  destruction"  (Wr.). 

Pompey's  slatua  (iii.  2. 186).  This  statue  has  come  down  to  our  time — 
as  the  weight  of  evidence  seems  to  prove — and  is  still  to  be  seen  in  the 
Spada  Palace  at  Rome.  Its  identity  has  been  disputed  by  a  few  eminent 
antiquarians  and  art  critics,  but  the  majority  of  them  believe  it  to  be  the 
veritable  Pompey's  statua  of  the  play.  It  was  dug  up  in  1553  in  a  spot 
which  exactly  corresponds  to  its  location  in  the  time  of  Augustus,  who 
removed  it  from  the  Curia  to  the  front  of  the  neighbouring  basilica.  It 
is  eleven  feet  high,  and  of  Greek  marble.  It  holds  a  globe  in  the  left 
hand,  which  has  led  some  to  consider  it  a  statue  of  Augustus  rather  than 
of  Pompey ;  but  the  head  is  not  like  any  of  the  busts  of  Augustus,  and, 
as  Lord  Broughton  has  suggested,  the  globe  "  may  not  have  been  an  ill- 
applied  flattery  to  him  who  found  Asia  Minor  the  boundary,  and  left  it  the 
centre  of  the  Roman  Empire."  The  history  of  the  statue  is  somewhat 
curious.  When  discovered,  it  was  lying  across  the  boundary  line  of  two 
estates,  the  owners  of  which  quarrelled  for  its  possession.  At  last  they 
were  on  the  point  of  settling  the  dispute  after  a  precedent  established  by. 
Solomon,  by  cutting  the  marble  in  two  and  carrying  off  the  halves.  Car- 
dinal Capo  di  Ferro  happened  to  come  along  just  at  this  moment,  and 
prevented  the  bisection ;  in  recognition  of  which  service  to  art  and  his- 
tory Pope  Julius  III.  bought  the  statue  for  500  crowns  and  presented  it 
to  the  cardinal.  When  the  French  were  in  Rome,  the  figure  actually 
suffered  a  surgical  operation  for  another  purpose.  It  was  determined  to 
have  a  performance  of  Voltaire's  Brutus  in  the  Coliseum,  and  it  was 
thought  to  be  a  pretty  bit  of  stage  effect  to  have  the  mimic  Caesar  fall,  as 
his  great  prototype  had  done, "  at  the  base  of  Pompey's  statua."  This 
thoroughly  "  Frenchy"  idea  was  carried  out,  and  to  facilitate  the  removal 
of  the  colossal  figure,  the  right  arm  was  temporarily  amputated.  Byron 
apostrophizes  the  statue  thus  in  Childe  Harold: 

N 


1 94  ADDENDA. 

"And  thou,  dread  statue!    yet  existent  in 
The  austerest  form  of  naked  majesty. 
Thou  who  beheldest  mid  the  assassins'  din, 
At  thy  hath'd  base  the  bloody  Ca-sar  lie, 
Folding  his  robe  in  dying  dignity, 
An  offering  to  thy  altar  from  the  queen 
Of  gods  and  men,  great  Nemesis!   did  he  die, 
And  thou  too  perish,  Pompey?     Have  ye  been 
Victors  of  countless  kings,  or  puppets  of  a  scene  ?" 

A  red  stain  on  the  left  leg  and  foot  of  the  statue  is  believed  by  some 
credulous  folk  to  be  the  veritable  blood  of  the  mighty  Julius,  but  scep- 
tical critics  say  that  it  is  one  of  those  stains  produced  by  iron  compounds 
which  not  unfrequently  occur  in  certain  varieties  of  Greek  marble.  If 
that  be  not  the  true  explanation,  we  should  suspect  that  the  mark  was 
due  to  the  French  theatrical  blood  poured  out  in  the  Coliseum  on  the 
occasion  referred  to  above. 

Blood  ill-temper 'd  (iv.  3.  114).  As  Wr.  notes,  Burton,  in  his  Anat.  of 
Melancholy,  describes  the  four  humours,  blood,  phlegm,  choler,  and  mel- 
ancholy, corresponding  to  the  four  elements,  upon  the  tempering  or  mix- 
ing of  which  depended  the  "  temperament"  of  a  man's  body.  See  also 
Trench's  Select  Glossary,  under  the  words  Humour  and  Temper,  and 
Davies  of  Hereford's  Microcosmos  (ed.  Grosart),  p.  30,  of  the  various 
complexions  or  temperaments : 

"  Well-tempred,  is  an  equal  counterpoise 
Of  th'  Elements'  forementioned  qualities  .... 
Ill  tempred's  that  where  some  one  Element 
Hath  more  dominion  then  it  ought  to  haue ; 
For  they  rule  ill  that  haue  more  regiment 
Then  nature,  wisdome,  right,  or  reason  gaue.'* 

What,  thou  speak' st  drowsily?  etc.  (iv.  3.  238  fol.).  "Brutus,  with  his 
beautiful  freedom  from  the  petty  self-interests  of  daily  life,  is  gentle  and 
considerate  towards  every  one.  The  servants  have  lain  down.  Lucius 
drops  away  into  the  irresistible  sleep  of  boyhood.  Brutus,  who  at  the 
call  of  duty  could  plunge  his  dagger  into  Caesar,  cannot  wake  a  sleeping 
boy.  .  .  .  He  gently  disengages  the  instrument  from  the  hand  of  Lucius, 
and  continues  his  book  where  he  had  left  it  off  last  night  There  is 
nothing  more  tender  in  the  plays  of  S.  than  this  scene.  The  tenderness 
of  a  man  who  is  stern  is  the  only  tenderness  which  is  wholly  delicate  and 
refined"  (Dowden). 

/  do  not  cross  you  ;  but  I  will  do  so  (v.  1. 20).  H.  explains  thus  \  "  That 
is,  *  I  will  do  as  I  have  said,'  not  f  I  will  cross  you.'  At  this  time  (  h  t.i- 
vius  was  but  twenty-one  years  old,  and  Antony  was  old  enough  to  be  his 
father.  . .  .  The  text  gives  the  right  taste  of  the  man,  who  always  stood 
firm  as  a  post  against  Antony,  till  the  latter  finally  knocked  himself  to 
pieces  against  him."  Wr.  also  believes  that  the  passage  is  intended  "to 
bring  out  the  character  of  Octavins,  which  made  Antony  yield."  We 
may  be  alone  in  our  opinion  (the  editors  generally  make  no  comment 
here),  but  we  believe  that  both  H.  and  Wr.  are  wrong.  We  can  see  nei- 
ther truth  nor  point  in  saying  "  I  do  not  cross  you,  but  I  will  do  wbl 
say  crosses  you."  We  take  it  that  Octavius  yields  to  Antony,  and  does 
it  readily,  with  a  play  upon  cross:  "  I  do  not  cross  you  (in  Antony's  sense 


ADDENDA. 


195 


of  the  word),  but  I  will  cross  you  (in  the  sense  oT  crossing  over  to  the 
other  side  of  the  field) ;"  and  with  the  word  he  does  cross  over.  Accord- 
ing to  Plutarch  he  commanded  the  left  wing,  and  this  makes  the  play 
agree  with  the  history.  It  is  also  confirmed  by  the  context.  So  far  from 
setting  himself  in  opposition  to  Antony,  Octavius  in  his  very  next  speech 
asks  the  former  whether  they  shall  give  sign  of  battle,  and  when  Antony 
says  no  he  at  once  accepts  this  decision  and  gives  orders  accordingly. 

In  18  Ritson  proposed  to  change  thou  to  "you;"  but  Wr.  says  that 
thou  "gives  a  touch  of  imperiousness  to  Octavius'  speech."  But  thou 
was  often  used  in  requests  and  appeals  (Gr.  234) ;  as  in  Rich.  III.  i.  4. 273  : 

"  Come  thou  on  my  side,  and  entreat  for  me 
As  you  would  beg  were  you  in  my  distress." 

See  also  71  below:  "Give  me  thy  hand,"  etc. 

Our  former  ensign  (p.  177).  For  the  use  of former,  Ritson  quotes  Ad- 
lington's  Apuleius,  1596:  "First  hee  instructed  me  to  sit  at  the  table 
vpon  my  taile,  and  howe  I  should  leape  and  daunce,  holding  up  my  former 
feete  ;"  and  Harrison,  Description  of  Britaine,  1577  :  "  It  [brawn]  is  made 
commonly  of  the  fore  part  of  a  tame  Bore  ...  of  his  former  partes  is  our 
Brawne  made."     Ct.  also  Spenser,  F.  Q.  vi.  6.  10  : 

"Yet  did  her  face  and  former  parts  professe 
A  faire  young  Mayden,  full  of"  comely  glee ; 
But  all  her  hinder  parts  did  plaine  expresse 
A  monstrous  Diagon,  full  of  fearefull  uglines^e." 


ROMAN    TOMB. 


ANCIENT   ARCH   ON    ROAD    LEADING   INTO   ROMR. 


INDEX   OF  WORDS  AND   PHRASES 
EXPLAINED. 


abide,  158,  165. 

aby,  158. 

addressed  (=ready),  156. 

afeard,  152. 

aim  (—guess),  133. 

alchemy  (figurative),  141. 

an  (=ifi,  136. 

angel,  165. 

annoy,  137,  145. 

answer  on  their  charge,  175. 

answered,  169. 

Antonio  (=Antonius),  129. 

apparent  (^manifest),  147. 

apprehensive  (^intelligent), 

apt  to  be  rendered,  153. 

apt  to  die,  159. 

arms  across,  149. 

arrive  (transitive),  132. 

art  (=acquired  knowledge), 

'73- 
as,  129, 144, 158,  165,174,177. 
as  his  kind,  143. 
as  this  very  day,  177. 
at  a  word  (  =  in  a  word),  136. 
at  heart's  ease,  134. 
Ate,  160. 
aweary,  172. 
ay  me !  1 54. 

bastardy,  145. 

battle  (^battalion),  175. 

bayed, 159,  169. 

be  (=are>,  134. 

bear  me  a  bang,  166. 

bear  me  hard,  136,  147, 159. 

beat  (—beaten),  184. 

beest,  172. 

behaviours,  129- 

beholding  (=beholden),  164, 

192. 
belike,  166. 
bend  (of  the  eye),  132. 
bending    their    expedition, 

,    '73- 

best,  you  were,  166. 

bestow,  141,  185. 

bid  (=bade),  183. 


blood  ill-tempered,  194. 

bloods,  132,  174. 

bond  (play  upon),  139. 

bravery  (=bravado),  175. 

break  with,  145. 

bring  (=accompany),  137. 

business  (trisyllable),  168. 

but,  127,  140,  185. 

but  one  only  man,  133. 

by,  148. 

call  in  question  (=discuss), 

'73- 
Calpurnia  (spelling),  128. 
careful  (=full  of  care),  174. 
case  yourself  in  wonder,  139. 
Cassius  (trisyllable),  134 
cautelous,  145. 
censure  (=judge),  164. 
ceremonies,  128,  147,  151. 
chafe,  131. 
charactery,  150. 
charm  (=conjure),  150. 
check  (=rebuke),  172. 
cheer,  158. 
chew  upon  this,  134. 
choice    and  master    spirits, 

clean  (=quite),  138. 
climate  (—region),  138. 
climber-upward,  142. 
cogitations    (  =  thoughts  ), 

129. 
cognizance.  152. 
colour  (^pretext),  143. 
common  laugher,  130. 
commons,  165. 
compact  (accent),  160. 
companion,  172. 
conceit(  —  conceive),  141, 159. 
condition  (^temper),  149. 
consort,  177. 

constancy  (=firmness),  154. 
content,  be,  169. 
contrive,  153. 
couch  (  =  crouch),  157. 
counsel  (—secret),  154. 
counters,  171. 


crimsoned  in  thy  lethe,  159. 
cross  (play  upon),  194. 
crossed  in  conference,  134. 
cry  '  Havoc!'  160. 
curtsy,  157. 

dear,  159. 
dear  my  lord,  149. 
Decius  Brutus,  128. 
degree  (=step),  142. 
deliver  (  =  declare),  159. 
destruction  (quadrisyllable), 

137- 
dint,  165. 
directly   (  =explicitly ),    126, 

166. 
dishonour  shall  be  humour, 

172. 
distract  (= distracted),  173. 
distraught,  173. 
do  danger.  142. 
do  grace,  164. 
do  salutation,  169. 
dogs  of  war,  161. 
dost  (=doest),  182. 
drachma,  166. 
drawn  upon  a  heap,  138. 

earn  (=yearn),  153. 

element  (—air,  sky),  140. 

emulation  (=envy),  153. 

enforced,  164. 

enlarge  your  griefs,  169. 

ensign,  182. 

entertain,  185. 

envious  (=malicious),  165. 

envy  (=malice),  146. 

et  tu,  Brute,  158. 

eternal   (  =infernal  ? ),    133, 

188. 
even  (=pure),  145. 
evils  (=evil  things),  144. 
exigent,  175. 
exorcist,  150. 

factious,  140. 

fall  (transitive),  169. 

fantasy,  147. 


98     INDEX  OF  WORDS  AND  PHRASES  EXPLAINED. 


far  (^farther),  165,  182. 

farewell  (trisyllable?),  174. 

fashion  (trisyllable),  172. 

father  (verb;,  15-). 

favour  (=face),  131,  140, 144. 

fear  (= cause  of  fear),  146. 

fearful  (—timorous),  175. 

fellow  (accent),  166. 

figures,  148. 

find  out  you,  140. 

fire  (dissyllable*,  159, 166. 

fleering,  140. 

fond  (^foolish),  157. 

for  this  present,  134. 

formal  (=outward),  148. 

former  (=forward),  177,  195 

forth,  136,  175. 

forth  of,  166. 

fresh  (^freshly),  148. 

from  (=away  from),  138, 139, 

147. 
full  of  good  regard,  160. 
funerals  (—funeral),  183. 

general  (=community),  142. 
genius,  143. 
get  me,  154. 
give  way  to,  153. 
given  (^disposed),  134. 
go  along  by,  148. 
go  to,  171. 

griefs(=grievances),i4o,i65, 
169. 

hark  thee,  184. 

have  respeet  to  (^consider), 

164. 
heap  (of  persons),  138. 
hearts  of  controversy,  132. 
high-sighted,  144,  190. 
hilts,  182. 

his  ( -its),  132,  149,  171. 
hold   (  interjectiooal  ),    140, 

182. 
honey-dew,  148. 
honey-heavy,  148. 
honourable-dangerous,  140. 
hot  at  hand,  169 
hour  (dissyllable),  '53. 
hugger-mugger,  162. 
humour,  136. 
hurtle,  151. 
Hybla,  176. 

I  (=me\  ^64. 

Ides,  129. 

idle  bed,  144. 

if  (omitted),  158,  177. 

impatience  (quadrisyllable), 

149. 
m  (-into),  183. 
in  some  taste,  168. 
incertain,  177. 


incorporate  to  our  attempt, 

140. 
indifferently  (impartially), 

•   I*1'    • 

indirection,  171. 

instance,  169. 
insuppressive,  145. 
is  (=are),  140,  141,  164. 

jade,  169. 

jealous,  133. 

jigging  (=rhyming),  172. 

justice  sake,  171. 

keep  his  state,  133. 
kerchief,  150. 
kind  (—nature),  139. 
kind  (—species),  143. 
knave  (=boy),  174. 

labouring,  etc,  126. 

last,  not  least,  159. 

let  blood,  158. 

lethe,  159. 

liable,  153. 

lie  along,  158. 

lief  (play  upon),  188. 

light  (=alight),  182. 

like  (=likely),  135. 

like  (=please),  151. 

listen  (transitive),  168. 

lottery,  144. 

lover(=friend),  153,164,177. 

low-crooked,  157. 

Lupercal,  128. 

lusty,  132,  152. 

lym,  160. 

mace,  174. 

make  conditions,  171. 

make  forth,  175. 

many  a,  127. 

mark  (dissyilable),  153. 

marry,  135. 

mart  (verb\  171. 

Marullus  (spelling),  125. 

may  (=can),  144. 

me  (expletive),  136,  220. 

me  (reflexive),  138,  154. 

mean  (    means),  159. 

mechanical,  125. 

merely  (^absolutely),  129. 

mettle  (spelling),  136. 

mistook  (    mistaken),  120. 

modesty!    moderation),  160. 

BUM  !      more*.  144,  183. 
monstrous  state.  139 

mortal  instruments,  143. 
mortified.  150. 
most  boldest,  1 58. 

napkin    (  —  handkerchief ), 
.(.5. 


near  (=nearer),  165. 
needs,  tag. 
new-added,  173. 
nice  offence.  171. 
niggard  (verb),  173. 
nothing  (adverb;,  133. 

observe,  171. 

occupation,  136. 

o'ershot,  165. 

o'erwatched,  174. 

of  (^=abouf,  166. 

of"(     n),  145. 

of  omitted),  166. 

of  force  (=of  necessity),  173 

o'  nights,  134,  153. 

omitted  (  =  neglected),  173. 

on  (=of),  130. 

once,  173 

one  (dissyllable?),  173. 

one  only,  133. 

only  (transposed),  184. 

ope,  136. 

opinion  (=reputation),  145. 

orchard  (=garden),  142. 

ordinance,  139. 

other  (=others),  174. 

out  (play  upon),  126. 

palter,  145. 

part  (=stiare,  divide),  186. 

part  the  numbers,  162. 

pass  the  streets,  127. 

passion  (=feeling),  129,  161. 

path  (verb),  144. 

peevish  (^foolish),  176. 

perforce.  173. 

phantasma.  143. 

physical,  15  >• 

pill  (  =  pillage),  170. 

pitch  (in  falconry),  128. 

PlutUS,  172. 

poll  (     plunder),  170. 

Pompey's  basis.  158. 

Pompey's  porch,  141. 

Pompey's  statua,  152,   i6». 

'93- 
Pompey's  theatre,  141. 
power  (dissyllable).  139. 
power  (— forci- 
prefer  (=recomtnend 
present  (     immediate  ,  151. 

crowd1.  129. 
prevent  (     anticipate),  178. 
prick.  r6 
proceeding,  153. 
prodigious  (—portentous), 

139 
produce  (—bear  forth),  16* 
profess  myself, 
promised  forth,  136. 
proof!     experience),  142. 
proper,  127,  129,  183. 


INDEX  OF  WORDS  AND  PHRASES  EXPLAINED. 


I99 


property,  168. 
puissance  (—forces),  168. 
puissant  (dissyllable),  157. 
purchase  (play  upon),  145. 
puigers,  146. 

question,  164. 
quick,  129. 

rank.  158. 

rascal,  171. 

rather,  134. 

rathest,  134. 

read  (or  rede).  155. 

rears  your  hand,  156. 

remorse  (=pity),  142,  188. 

render,  152,  159,  163. 

repeal  (=recall),  157. 

replication,  128. 

resolved  (  =  satisfied  ),  158, 

165,  169. 
respect  (=regard),  171. 
respect  (^estimation),  130. 
retentive,  139. 
rheumy,  150. 
Rome  (pronunciation),  132, 

161. 
rumour  (=noise),  154. 

sad  (=serious),  134. 

save  he,  185. 

save  I,  164. 

scandal  (verb),  130. 

scape,  172. 

security,  153. 

sennet,  129. 

set  on.  129,  175. 

several   (—  separate  ),  145, 

166. 
shame  (intransitive),  144. 
should,  132,  152. 
shrewd.  145. 
sick,  149. 
sick  offence,  150. 
silver  (play  upon),  145. 
smatch,  185. 
so  (=also),  153* 
so(=if),  134,  158. 
so  (omitted),  127.  i6t,  184. 
soldier  (trisyllable),  168,  171. 


soles  (play  upon),  126. 

sooth,  154. 

speed  (=prosper),  131. 

spirit  (monosyllable),  150. 

stains,  152. 

stale  (verb),  130. 

stare,  175. 

state  of  man,  144. 

statua,  152,  165. 

stay  (=await),  178. 

stole  (=stolen),  149. 

strain  (=race),  176. 

strength  of  malice,  159. 

stricken,  146. 

strucken,  153,  160. 

success  (=issue),  151,  182. 

such  .  .  .  that,  140. 

sway  of  earth,  137. 

swooned  (spelling),  135. 

tag-rag,  136. 

take  thought  and  die,  146. 

temper   (  —  temperament  ), 

132- 
tenure  (=tenour),  173. 
than,  132. 
Thassos,  183. 
that  (affirmative),  142. 
that    (  conjunctional  affix  ), 

158,  165,  172. 
that  ...  as,  129. 
that  (  =  so  that),  127,  144, 

161,  184. 
the  (omitted),  135. 
thee  (=thou),  184. 
then  (=than),  132. 
thews,  139. 
thorough   (=through),    158, 

178. 
thou,  136,  153,  177,  184. 
thought  (=anxiety),  146. 
thunder-stone,  138. 
Tiber  (adjective),  128. 
Tiber  (feminine),  127,  131. 
tide  (=time),  160. 
tidings  (number),  173. 
tinctures,  152. 
to  (=for),  158. 
to    (  inserted  ),     134,    152, 

171. 


to  (omitted),  126,  136,  168. 
to-night  (=last  night),  152. 
took  (=taken),  143. 
toward  (accent),  130. 
trade.  126. 
true  (= honest),  136. 
trust  (=trusted),  178. 
turn  (^return),  156. 
turn  him  going,  167. 

undergo,  140. 
unfirm,  137. 
unmeritable,  168. 
unshaked  of  motion,  158. 
unto  (accent),  185. 
upmost,  142. 
upon  a  wish,  166. 
upon  sickness,  172. 
use  (=precedent),  152. 

venture,  173. 

void,  154. 

vouchsafe  good  morrow,  150. 

wafture,  149. 

warn  (=summon),  175. 

were  best,  you,  166. 

well  given,  134. 

what  (=what  a),  138. 

what  (=why),  145. 

what  (impatient),  142. 

when  (impatient),  142. 

whether  (monosyllable),  128, 

147,  183. 
which,  the,  161. 
whiles,  134. 
who  (omitted),  129. 
who  (=he  who),  140. 
who  (=which),  137,  177. 
wind  (transitive),  168. 
with   (=by),  139,  160,  165, 

.173- 
with  (=for),  132. 
withal  (play  upon),  126. 
woe  the  while,  139. 
work  alive,  173. 

yearn,  153. 

yond,  134,  182. 

you,  153,  171,  177,  184. 


AUGUR  S  STAFF. 


SHAKESPEARE. 


WITH   NOTES  BY  WM.  J.  ROLFE,  A.M. 


The  Merchant  of  Venice. 

The  Tempest. 

Julius  Caesar. 

Hamlet. 

As  You  Like  it. 

Henry  the  Fifth. 

Macbeth. 

Henry  the  Eighth. 

A  Midsummer -Night's  Dream 

Kichard  the  Second. 

Richard  the  Third. 

Much  Ado  About  Nothing. 

Antony  and  Cleopatra. 

Romeo  and  Juliet. 

Othello. 

Twelfth  Night. 

The  Winter's  Tale. 

King  John. 

Henry  IY.    Part  I. 

Henry  IV.    Part  II. 

Illustrated.    i6mo,  Cloth,  56  cents 

FRIENDLY   EDITION,  complete  in  20  vols.,  i6mo,  Cloth,  $30  00; 
Half  Calf,  $60  00.     {Sold  only  in  Sets.) 


King  Lear. 

The  Taming  of  the  Shrew. 
All 's  Well  That  Ends  Well. 
Coriolanus. 
Comedy  of  Errors. 
Cymbeline. 

Merry  Wives  of  Windsor. 
Measure  for  Measure. 
Two  Gentlemen  of  Verona. 
Love's  Labour 's  Lost. 
Timon  of  Athens. 
Henry  VI.    Parti. 
Henry  VI.    Part  II. 
Henry  VI.    Part  III. 
Troilus  and  Cressida. 
Pericles,  Prince  of  Tyre. 
The  Two  Noble  Kinsmen. 
Poems. 
Sonnets. 

Titus  Andronicus. 
per  vol. ;  Paper,  40  cents  per  vol. 


In  the  preparation  of  this  edition  of  the  English  Classics  it  has  been 
the  aim  to  adapt  them  for  school  and  home  reading,  in  essentially  the 
same  way  as  Greek  and  Latin  Classics  are  edited  for  educational  pur- 
poses.- The  chief  requisites  are  a  pure  text  (expurgated,  if  necessary), 
and  the  notes  needed  for  its  thorough  explanation  and  illustration. 

Each  of  Shakespeare's  plays  is  complete  in  one  volume,  and  is  pre- 
ceded by  an  Introduction  containing  the  "  History  of  the  Play,"  the 
44  Sources  of  the  Plot,"  and  44  Critical  Comments  on  the  Play." 

From  Horace  Howard  Furness,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  Editor  of  the  '■'■New 
Variorum  Shakespeare.'1'' 
No  one  can  examine  these  volumes  and  fail  to  be  impressed  with  the 
conscientious  accuracy  and  scholarly  completeness  with  which  they  are 
edited.  The  educational  purposes  for  which  the  notes  are  written  Mr. 
Rolfe  never  loses  sight  of,  but  like  4'  a  well-experienced  archer  hits  the 
mark  his  eve  doth  level  at." 


Rolfe's  Shakespeare. 


prom  F.  J.  FURNIVALL,  Director  of  the  ATew  Shaksfere  Society,  London. 
The  merit  I  see  in  Mr.  Rolfe's  school  editions  of  Shakspere's  Plays 
over  those  most  widely  used  in  England  is  that  Mr.  Rolfe  edits  the  plays 
as  works  of  a  poet,  and  not  only  as  productions  in  Tudor  English.  Some 
editors  think  that  all  they  have  to  do  with  a  play  is  to  state  its  source 
and  explain  its  hard  words  and  allusions ;  they  treat  it  as  they  would  a 
charter  or  a  catalogue  of  household  furniture,  and  then  rest  satisfied. 
But  Mr.  Rolfe,  while  clearing  up  all  verbal  difficulties  as  carefully  as  any 
Dryasdust,  always  adds  the  choicest  extracts  he  can  find,  on  the  spirit 
and  special  "  note  "  of  each  play,  and  on  the  leading  characteristics  of  its 
chief  personages.  He  does  not  leave  the  student  without  help  in  getting 
at  Shakspere's  chief  attributes,  his  characterization  and  poetic  power. 
And  every  practical  teacher  knows  that  while  every  boy  can  look  out 
hard  words  in  a  lexicon  for  himself,  not  one  in  a  score  can,  unhelped, 
catch  points  of  and  realize  character,  and  feel  and  express  the  distinctive 
individuality  of  each  play  as  a  poetic  creation. 

From  Prof.  EDWARD  Dowden,  LL.D.,  of  the  University  of  Dublin,  Au- 
thor of  "  Shakspere :  His  Mind  and  Art." 

I  incline  to  think  that  no  edition  is  likely  to  be  so  useful  for  school  and 
home  reading  as  yours.  Your  notes  contain  so  much  accurate  instruc- 
tion, with  so  little  that  is  superfluous ;  you  do  not  neglect  the  aesthetic 
study  of  the  play  ;  and  in  externals,  paper,  type,  binding,  etc.,  you  make 
a  book  "  pleasant  to  the  eye  "  (as  well  as  "  to  be  desired  to  make  one 
wise") — no  small  matter,  I  think,  with  young  readers  and  with  old. 

From  EDWIN  A.  ABBOTT,  M. A.,  Author  of  "  Shakespearian  Grammar." 
I  have  not  seen  any  edition  that  compresses  so  much  necessary  infor- 
mation into  so  small  a  space,  nor  any  that  so  completely  avoids  the  com- 
mon faults  of  commentaries  on  Shakespeare — needless  repetition,  super- 
fluous explanation,  and  unscholar-like  ignoring  of  difficulties. 

From   HlRAM   Corson,  M.A.,  Professor  of  Anglo-Saxon  and  English 
Literature,  Cornell  University,  Ithaca,  A'.  Y. 

In  the  way  of  annotated  editions  of  separate  plays  of  Shakespeare,  for 
educational  purposes,  I  know  of  none  quite  up  to  Rolfe's. 


Rolfe's  Shakespeare. 


From  Prof.  F.  J.  Child,  of  Harvard  University. 

I  read  your  "  Merchant  of  Venice  "  with  my  class,  and  found  it  in  every 
respect  an  excellent  edition.  I  do  not  agree  with  my  friend  White  in  the 
opinion  that  Shakespeare  requires  but  few  notes — that  is,  if  he  is  to  be 
thoroughly  understood.  Doubtless  he  may  be  enjoyed,  and  many  a  hard 
place  slid  over.  Your  notes  give  all  the  help  a  young  student  requires, 
and  yet  the  reader  for  pleasure  will  easily  get  at  just  what  he  wants. 
You  have  indeed  been  conscientiously  concise. 

Under  date  of  July  25,  1879,  Prof.  Child  adds:  Mr.  Rolfe's  editions 
of  plays  of  Shakespeare  are  very  valuable  and  convenient  books,  whether 
for  a  college  class  or  for  private  study.  I  have  used  them  with  my 
students,  and  I  welcome  every  addition  that  is  made  to  the  series.  They 
show  care,  research,  and  good  judgment,  and  are  fully  up  to  the  time  in 
scholarship.  I  fully  agree  with  the  opinion  that  experienced  teachers 
have  expressed  of  the  excellence  of  these  books. 

From  Rev.  A.  P.  Peabody,  D.D.,  Professor  in  Harvard  University. 

I  regard  your  own  work  as  of  the  highest  merit,  while  you  have  turned 
the  labors  of  others  to  the  best  possible  account.  I  want  to  have  the 
higher  classes  of  our  schools  introduced  to  Shakespeare  chief  of  all,  and 
then  to  other  standard  English  authors  ;  but  this  cannot  be  done  to  ad- 
vantage unless  under  a  teacher  of  equally  rare  gifts  and  abundant  leisure, 
or  through  editions  specially  prepared  for  such  use.  I  trust  that  you 
will  have  the  requisite  encouragement  to  proceed  with  a  work  so  hap- 
pily begun. 

From  the  Exatniner  and  Chronicle,  N.  Y. 

We  repeat  what  we  have  often  said,  that  there  is  no  edition  of  Shake- 
speare which  seems  to  us  preferable  to  Mr.  Rolfe's.  As  mere  specimens 
of  the  printer's  and  binder's  art  they  are  unexcelled,  and  their  other 
merits  are  equally  high.  Mr.  Rolfe,  having  learned  by  the  practical  ex- 
perience of  the  class-room  what  aid  the  average  student  really  needs  in 
order  to  read  Shakespeare  intelligently,  has  put  just  that  amount  of  aid 
into  his  notes,  and  no  more.  Having  said  what  needs  to  be  said,  he  stops 
there.  It  is  a  rare  virtue  in  the  editor  of  a  classic,  and  we  are  propor- 
tionately grateful  for  it. 


Rolfe^s  Shakespeare. 


From  the  N.  Y  Times. 

This  work  has  been  done  so  well  that  it  could  hardly  have  been  done 
better.  It  shows  throughout  knowledge,  taste,  discriminating  judgment, 
and,  what  is  rarer  and  of  yet  higher  value,  a  sympathetic  appreciation  of 
the  poet's  moods  and  purposes. 

From  the  Pacific  School  Journal,  San  Francisco. 

This  edition  of  Shakespeare's  plays  bids  fair  to  be  the  most  valuable 
aid  to  the  study  of  English  literature  yet  published.  For  educational 
purposes  it  is  beyond  praise.  Each  of  the  plays  is  printed  in  large  clear 
type  and  on  excellent  paper.  Every  difficulty  of  the  text  is  clearly  ex- 
plained by  copious  notes  It  is  remarkable  how  many  new  beauties  one 
may  discern  in  Shakespeare  with  the  aid  of  the  glossaries  attached  to 
these  books.  .  .  .  Teachers  can  do  no  higher,  better  work  than  to  incul- 
cate a  love  for  the  best  literature,  and  such  books  as  these  will  best  aid 
them  in  cultivating  a  pure  and  refined  taste. 

From  the  Christian  Union,  N.  Y. 

Mr.W.  J.  Rolfe's  capital  edition  of  Shakespeare  ...  by  far  the  best  edi- 
tion for  school  and  parlor  use  We  speak  after  some  practical  use  of  it 
in  a  village  Shakespeare  Club.  The  notes  are  brief  but  useful ;  and  the 
necessary  expurgations  are  managed  with  discriminating  skill. 

From  the  Academy,  London. 

Mr.  Rolfe's  excellent  series  of  school  editions  of  the  Plays  of  Shake- 
speare .  .  .  they  differ  from  some  of  the  English  ones  in  looking  on  the 
plays  as  something  more  than  word  -  puzzles.  They  give  the  student 
helps  and  hints  on  the  characters  and  meanings  of  the  plays,  while  the 
word-notes  are  also  full  and  posted  up  to  the  latest  date.  .  .  .  Mr.  Rolfe 
also  adds  to  each  of  his  books  a  most  useful  "Index  of  Words  and 
Phrases  Explained." 


Published  by  HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  New  York. 

tW  Any  of  the  above  works  will  be  sent  by  mail,  postage  prepaid,  to  any  part  0/  thl 
United  States  or  Canada,  on  receipt  of  the  price. 


THOMAS  GRAY. 

SELECT  POEMS  OF  THOMAS  GRAY.  Edited,  with 
Notes,  by  William  J.  Rolfe,  A.M.,  formerly  Head 
Master  of  the  High  School,  Cambridge,  Mass.  Illus- 
trated. Square  i6mo,  Paper,  40  cents;  Cloth,  56  cents. 
(Uniform  with  Rolfe 's  Shakespeare?) 


Mr.  Rolfe  has  done  his  work  in  a  manner  that  comes  as  near  to  per- 
fection as  man  can  approach.  He  knows  his  subject  so  well  that  he  is 
competent  to  instruct  all  in  it ;  and  readers  will  find  an  immense  amount 
of  knowledge  in  his  elegant  volume,  all  set  forth  in  the  most  admirable 
order,  and  breathing  the  most  liberal  and  enlightened  spirit,  he  being  a 
warm  appreciator  of  the  divinity  of  genius. — Boston  Traveller. 

The  great  merit  of  these  books  lies  in  their  carefully  edited  text,  and  in 
the  fulness  of  their  explanatory  notes.  Mr.  Rolfe  is  not  satisfied  with 
simply  expounding,  but  he  explores  the  entire  field  of  English  literature, 
and  therefrom  gathers  a  multitude  of  illustrations  that  are  interesting  in 
themselves  and  valuable  as  a  commentary  on  the  text.  He  not  only  in- 
structs, but  stimulates  his  readers  to  fresh  exertion  ;  and  it  is  this  stimu- 
lation that  makes  his  labor  so  productive  in  the  school-room. — Saturday 
Evening  Gazette,  Boston. 

Mr.  William  J.  Rolfe,  to  whom  English  literature  is  largely  indebted 
for  annotated  and  richly  illustrated  editions  of  several  of  Shakespeare's 
Plays,  has  treated  the  "  Select  Poems  of  Thomas  Gray  "  in  the  same  way 
— just  as  he  had  previously  dealt  with  the  best  of  Goldsmith's  poems. — 
Philadelphia  Press. 

Mr.  Rolfe's  edition  of  Thomas  Gray's  select  poems  is  marked  by  the 
same  discriminating  taste  as  his  other  classics. — Springfield  Republican. 

Mr.  Rolfe's  rare  abilities  as  a  teacher  and  his  fine  scholarly  tastes  ena- 
ble him  to  prepare  a  classic  like  this  in  the  best  manner  for  school  use. 
There  could  be  no  better  exercise  for  the  advanced  classes  in  our  schools 
than  the  critical  study  of  our  best  authors,  and  the  volumes  that  Mr.  Rolfe 
has  prepared  will  hasten  the  time  when  the  study  of  mere  form  will  give 
place  to  the  study  of  the  spirit  of  our  literature. — Louisville  Courier- 
journal. 

An  elegant  and  scholarly  little  volume. — Christian  Intelligencer,  N.  Y. 


Published  by  HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  New  York. 

Sent  by  mail,  postage  prepaid,  to  any  part  of  the  United  States  or  Canada,  on 
receipt  of  the  price. 


OLIVER  GOLDSMITH. 

SELECT  POEMS  OF  OLIVER  GOLDSMITH.  Edited, 
with  Notes,  by  William  J.  Rolfe,  A.M.,  formerly  Head 
Master  of  the  High  School,  Cambridge,  Mass.  Illus- 
trated. i6mo,  Paper,  40  cents  ;  Cloth,  56  cents.  {Uni- 
form with  Rolfe 's  Shakespeare?) 


The  carefully  arranged  editions  of  "The  Merchant  of  Venice"  and 
other  of  Shakespeare's  plays  prepared  by  Mr.  William  J.  Rolfe  for  the 
use  of  students  will  be  remembered  with  pleasure  by  many  readers,  and 
they  will  welcome  another  volume  of  a  similar  character  from  the  same 
source,  in  the  form  of  the  "  Select  Poems  of  Oliver  Goldsmith,"  edited 
with  notes  fuller  than  those  of  any  other  known  edition,  many  of  them 
original  with  the  editor. — Boston  Transcript. 

Mr.  Rolfe  is  doing  very  useful  work  in  the  preparation  of  compact 
hand-books  for  study  in  English  literature.  His  own  personal  culture 
and  his  long  experience  as  a  teacher  give  him  good  knowledge  of  what 
is  wanted  in  this  way. —  The  Congregationalist,  Boston. 

Mr.  Rolfe  has  prefixed  to  the  Poems  selections  illustrative  of  Gold- 
smith's character  as  a  man,  and  grade  as  a  poet,  from  sketches  by  Ma- 
caulay,  Thackeray,  George  Colman,  Thomas  Campbell,  John  Forster, 
and  Washington  Irving.  He  has  also  appended  at  the  end  of  the 
volume  a  body  of  scholarly  notes  explaining  and  illustrating  the  poems, 
and  dealing  with  the  times  in  which  they  were  written,  as  well  as  the 
incidents  and  circumstances  attending  their  composition.  —  Christian 
Intelligencer,  N.  Y. 

The  notes  are  just  and  discriminating  in  tone,  and  supplv  all  that  is 
necessary  either  for  understanding  the  thought  of  the  several  poems,  or 
for  a  critical  study  of  the  language.  The  use  of  such  books  in  the  school- 
room cannot  but  contribute  largely  towards  putting  the  study  of  English 
literature  upon  a  sound  basis  ;  and  many  an  adult  reader  would  find  in 
the  present  volume  an  excellent  opportunity  for  becoming  critically  ac- 
quainted with  one  of  the  greatest  of  last  century's  poets. — Appletorts 
Journal,  N.  Y. 


Published  by  HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  New  York. 

Sent  by  mail,  postage  prepaid,  to  any  part  of  the  United  States  or  Canada,  on 
receipt  of  the  price. 


AFTERNOONS  WITH  THE  POETS. 

AFTERNOONS  WITH  THE  POETS.   By  C.  D.  Deshler. 
Post  8vo,  Cloth,  $i  75. 


This  pleasing  work  is  made  up  of  citations  from  the  poets,  accom- 
panied with  easy  and  familiar  discussions  of  their  merits  and  peculiari- 
ties. Seven  afternoons  are  thus  agreeably  occupied,  and  take  the  shape 
of  as  many  interesting  chapters.  The  participants  are  the  "  Professor" 
and  his  pupil,  who  are  represented  as  on  terms  of  the  utmost  intimacy, 
and  express  their  sentiments  to  each  other  with  perfect  freedom.  *  *  * 
Mr.  Deshler  has  happily  selected  the  sonnet,  and  confined  his  view  of 
the  poets  to  their  productions  in  this  single  species  of  verse.  *  *  *  The 
author's  extensive  research  has  been  accompanied  by  minute  scrutiny, 
faithful  comparison,  and  judicious  discrimination.  His  critical  observa- 
tions are  frank,  honest,  good-natured,  yet  just,  discreet,  comprehensive, 
and  full  of  instruction.  It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  volume  that  in  so 
small  a  compass  offers  equal  aid  for  the  cultivation  of  literary  taste,  and 
for  reaching  an  easy  acquaintance  with  all  the  great  poets  of  the  Eng- 
lish tongue.  The  style  is  pure  and  transparent,  and  though  colloquial 
in  form,  it  is  exceedingly  correct  and  elegant,  embodying  every  chaste 
adornment  of  which  language  is  capable. — Boston  Transcript. 

A  very  unconventional  and  pleasant  book. — N.  Y.  Herald. 

The  substance  of  the  book  is  decidedly  meritorious,  far  better  than 
most  of  the  criticism  published  in  these  days.  It  shows  careful  study, 
extensive  reading,  a  nice  taste  and  discrimination,  and  also  a  genuine 
appreciation  and  insight  which  are  rare. — JV.  Y.  Evening  Express. 

A  volume  of  much  literary  interest,  and  is  very  pleasantly  written.*  *  * 
Mr.  Deshler's  discussions  of  literature  are  extremely  interesting.  *  *  *  It 
will  be  a  source  of  enjoyment  to  all  who  have  a  taste  for  poetry,  and  can 
appreciate  the  highest  triumphs  of  poetic  art  as  displayed  in  the  sonnet. 
—Hartford  Post. 

We  have  to  thank  Mr.  Deshler  for  a  collection  of  some  of  the  most 
exquisite  sonnets  in  the  English  language,  with  an  animated,  apprecia- 
tive, and  suggestive  comment  which  shows  a  fine  poetical  taste  and  is  an 
interesting  and  instructive  guide  in  a  charming  field. — N.  Y.  Mail. 


Published  by  HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  New  York. 

Harper  &  Brothers  will  send  the  above  work  by  mail,  postage  prepaid,  to  any 
part  of  the  United  States  or  Canada,  on  receipt  0/  the  price. 


ENGLISH  MEN  OF  LETTERS. 

EDITED    BY  JOHN    MORLEY. 

The  following  volumes  are  now  ready ! 

SAMUEL  JOHNSON By  Leslie  Stephen. 

EDWARD  GIBBON By  J.  C.  M ORISON. 

SIR  WALTER  SCOTT By  R.  H.  Hutton. 

PERCY  BYSSHE   SHELLEY By  J.  A.  Symonds. 

DAVID   HUME By  T.  H.  Huxley. 

OLIVER   GOLDSMITH By  William  Black. 

DANIEL  DEFOE By  William  Minto. 

ROBERT  BURNS By  Principal  Shairp. 

EDMUND   SPENSER By  R.  W.  Church. 

WILLIAM  M.  THACKERAY By  Anthony  Trollope. 

EDMUND  BURKE By  John  Morley. 

JOHN  MILTON By  Mark  Pattison. 

NATHANIEL   HAWTHORNE By  Henry  James,  Jr. 

ROBERT  SOUTHEY By  Edward  DOWDEN. 

GEOFFREY  CHAUCER By  A.  W.  Ward. 

JOHN   BUNYAN By  J.  A.  Froude. 

WILLIAM  COWPER By  Goldwin  Smith. 

ALEXANDER  POPE By  Leslie  Stephen. 

LORD  BYRON By  John  Nichol. 

JOHN  LOCKE , By  Thomas  Fowler. 

WILLIAM  WORDSWORTH By  F.  W.  H.  Myers. 

JOHN  DRYDEN By  G.  Saintsbury. 

WALTER  SAVAGE  LAN  DOR By  Sidney  Colyin. 

THOMAS  DE   QUINCEY    By  David  Masson. 

CHARLES  LAMB By  Alfred  AlNGEJL 

RICHARD  BENTLEY By  R.  C.  [EBB. 

CHARLES    DICKENS By  A.  W.  Ward. 

THOMAS  GRAY By  E.  W.  Gosse. 

JONATHAN    SWIFT By  Leslie  STEPHEN. 

LAURENCE   STERNE By  H.  I).  Traii.i  . 

THOMAS   B.  MACAULAY By  J.  C.  Morison. 

HENRY  FIELDING By  Austin  Dobson. 

RICHARD    BRINSLEY   SHERIDAN By  Mrs.  Oliph am  . 

JOSEPH   ADDISON By  W.  J.  CoURTHOPE, 

LORD  BACON By  R.  W.  CHURCH. 

SAMUEL  TAYLOR  COLERIDGE By  H.  1).  Tram  l. 

SIR   PHILIP  SIDNEY By  J.  A.  ^YMOVDS. 

JOHN  KEATS  By  Sidney  Colvin. 

ijmo,  Cloth,  75  cents  per  volume. 


Published  by  HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  New  York. 

Harper  &  Brothers  will  send  any  0/ the  above  works  by  mail,  postage  prepaid, 
to  any  part  of  the  United  States  or  Canadti,  on  receipt  of  the  f 


YB  37024 


EDUC 

DEPT. 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


